The Washington Nationals fell on Wednesday evening to the Atlanta Braves, but it felt like a game that could have been won. As has been the tale for the entire season so far, the Nationals received more than enough contribution from their bats, but were once again let down by their pitching.
When Zack Littell was brought in late this offseason, the expectation was that he would be able to at least maintain his career track record of being a reliable arm in the middle of the Nationals' rotation, but that has not been the case so far. The 30-year-old has been maddeningly inconsistent for his new club so far this year, and some of the recent trends are even more concerning.
After his first 3 starts of the season were all solid, Littell has now struggled mightily in his last 2 starts against the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves, respectively. Both games resulted in him taking losses, and he now sits at 0-3 for the season and has been worth -0.6 bWAR so far, which is not what you want to see from the highest-paid pitcher on your roster.
Combined between both starts, Littell has pitched 10.0 innings, allowing 18 hits, 16 runs - 14 of them earned, and just 6 strikeouts. However, the most concerning part for Littell is that he has surrendered a whopping 6 home runs, including 4 last night against the Braves.
With the 4 he surrendered last night, we have a microcosm of what has plagued Littell so far this season. He now leads the majors with 11 homers given up, with the second closest being Phillies righty Taijuan Walker with 8, who was just released as I'm finishing this article. If that doesn't tell you how concerning this issue is for Littell, I don't know what will.
The bottom line is, as a guy who doesn't miss a ton of bats, Littell needs to do a better job of keeping the ball in the yard. Last year he gave up 36 homers over 186.2 innings, and this year he's already given up the 11 in just 25.0 innings. If he keeps at this current pace he would obliterate Jake Irvin's league-leading figure of 38 homers allowed from last season, and that is not the kind of number you want to be associated with.
Given that Littell now owns a 7.56 ERA and 1.680 WHIP, it is fair to wonder how much not really having a full spring training could be impacting him, as his expected numbers from Baseball Savant paint a similar picture of a guy who is struggling mightily. Hopefully pitching coach Simon Mathews and the Nationals' new coaching staff can figure something out soon, or the Littell signing will begin to look like a disaster in no time.
Do you think Zack Littell will be able to figure things out soon for the Nationals? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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