Diamondbacks sign veteran pitcher Zack Littell. What will his role be?

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks signed veteran pitcher Zack Littell, who was designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals this past week, the club announced on Monday.

azcentral.com’s Nick Piecoro and FanSided’s Robert Murray first reported the news on Sunday.

Littell said the plan is for him to come out of the bullpen as Arizona pushes for a postseason spot.

“They’ve been playing really, really good baseball, so to be a part of that and hopefully help these guys win is going to be fun,” Littell said on Monday.

Littell made 23 appearances with 14 starts for the Nationals this year, throwing the fourth-most innings on the team. He worked a 4.97 ERA, 5.75 FIP, 1.34 WHIP and one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball at 14.6%. Only three of 94 pitchers to have thrown 100 innings this year have a lower K rate.

Righties have a .690 OPS against him, while lefties are up to .877.

Littell owns a 4.31 ERA over his last 14 games, and his numbers as a reliever (3.18 ERA) are much better than as a starter (6.18 ERA) this year.

“I’m happy with where I’m at physically,” Littell said. “Obviously, there are some things that you want to continue to work on, and these guys have brought some stuff to me already that I’m excited to get after.”

The 30-year-old put up solid numbers in each of the previous two seasons, pitching to a 3.73 ERA in 61 games across 2024-25 for the Tampa Bay Rays and Cincinnati Reds. He pitched a career-high 186.2 frames last season.

The Diamondbacks have seen a lot of Littell over the years, as he has made 12 appearances against them since making his MLB debut in 2018. The right-hander tossed 10 innings with two earned runs across two games against the D-backs this season.

Littell is a pitch-to-contact arm with low strikeout and walks rates throughout his career, and he was on a Nationals team with the most errors committed in MLB. The Diamondbacks entered Sunday with the fewest, which should help.

Arizona attempted to add pitching at the trade deadline and came up empty.

Since then, the organization signed veteran reliever Dennis Santana to a minor league deal and now added Littell, someone with experience starting games or providing bulk innings in relief.

The D-backs are getting starter Michael Soroka back from the injured list on Monday against the Colorado Rockies, while Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen and Ryne Nelson are progressing while on the injured list.

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