Nationals Reportedly Agree to Contract With Zack Littell
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Before spring training got underway, Washington Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said he was still going to be active, and that resulted in him adding right-handed pitcher Miles Mikolas to bolster this rotation.
Now, according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, the Nationals have agreed to a contract with right-handed pitcher Zack Littell in what would be their most notable free agency addition of the offseason. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported it's a one-year MLB deal, but no financial details have been released at the time of writing.
Littell, who was long seen as a fit for Washington throughout the winter, is coming off a 2025 campaign where he posted a 3.81 ERA across 32 starts with both the Tampa Bay Rays and Cincinnati Reds. He was acquired ahead of the trade deadline as the Reds made their playoff push.
How Zack Littell Impacts Nationals' Rotation Plans
It seems like this will firmly put Littell into the mix for the final starting rotation spot. He'll have to ramp-up quickly during the remainder of spring training if that's going to happen. But this is a huge addition for the Nationals.
At this stage of the spring, four starting pitchers seemed to be locked into place: Cade Cavalli, Foster Griffin, Brad Lord and Mikolas. That leaves a battle for the final spot, which appeared to be between Josiah Gray, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker. With Littell now reportedly agreeing to a deal with Washington, there's good chance he'll become the fifth starter if he can be ready by the time Opening Day arrives.
How that impacts Gray, Irvin, Parker and even Andrew Alvarez will be interesting to see. But teams can never have too many starting pitchers in preparation of the long MLB season, so at the very least, the Nationals are now flush with multiple arms who can give them starting innings.
What Nationals Fans Should Expect From Zack Littell
The 30-year-old began his MLB career coming out of the bullpen when he made his debut in 2018. It wasn't until he was claimed off waivers by the Rays in 2023 when he was turned into a starter, which has proven to be an excellent decision based on how effective he has been in that role the past three seasons.
As a starter in the majors, he has a 3.67 ERA across 75 starts. During his two full years as a starting pitcher in 2024 and 2025, he's thrown 156 1/3 innings and 186 2/3 innings, respectively. He's not a high-strikeout guy with well under a K per frame, but he also rarely walks batters.
With all of that in mind, fans should expect Littell to be an innings eater for Washington. He's been able to take the ball every fifth day and be an effective arm for his team, and that shouldn't change in the nation's capital. While he's not going to blow anyone away on his starting days, he'll be a solid starter for the Nationals, which is exactly what they need.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai