Rays Pitcher Zack Littell Not Phased by Looming Trade Deadline

TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are the only team in baseball with five pitchers who have made 20 or more starts. They've been a durable bunch, no one moreso than 29-year-old right-hander Zack Littell.

He's thrown a team-high 122 1/3 innings so far in 20 starts, and he'll pitch again on Friday when the Rays start a road trip in Cincinnati.

At least that's the assumption.

Nothing is etched in stone in late July, especially with the trade deadline looming in eight days. Littell is pitching on a one-year, $5.72 milion contract in 2025 — which has been a real bargain for the Rays — but he is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

The price for starting pitching his high, and the Rays could get a good return for Littell. The Rays are also one of the few teams in baseball that have reserves at the ready. Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour, who been dominant as starters at Triple-A Durham all year, are on the Rays' roster now and could slide right in to a starting role. They are already stretched out. And the Rays are hoping ace Shane McClanahan can return at some point, too.

Littell, who is 8-7 on the year with a 3.53 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, isn't letting any trade talk bother him, though. He's been through this before, he said Wednesday in the Rays' clubhouse, and any rumors won't distract him from the task at hand, which is getting ready for the Reds on Friday night.

"I really don't think about it. A little bit of it has having done this before,'' said Littell, who's been pitching in the big leagues since 2018 and has played with four different teams, including the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. He went from the Red Sox to the Rays in May of 2023.

"I've done it all, DFA'd, traded, been a free agent. If it happens, it happens. We're just going to keep going and prep like I have 12 more (starts) here.''

Littell is an enticing piece because he's been a solid starting pitcher that can eat up innings, but he's also been a reliever through a lot of his career. For a team with postseason aspirations, he would be a good option as the first guy out of a bullpen at a time when you only need three starters.

But the Rays could consider that a valid option as well. They started play on Wednesday with a 53-49 record and were just a half-game out of the last American League wild-card spot. They feel confident they are a playoff team — Littell feels that way, too — and they look forward to playing games in October.

"I think we're trying to go out there and win every game no matter what,'' Littell said. "Obviously, everybody's seen it, we all hear the rumors, we all understand that we play for the Rays. But our goal is to go out there and win no matter what. I think (Rays president of baseball operations) Erik (Neander) has said it, tons of guys have said it. I think everyone in here believes that we're good enough to beat just about anybody in the league.

"When we're playing the baseball that we're capable of playing, I don't think it's even a conversation. I would make the argument that this group here is capable of beating anybody. Our goal is to win games no matter what, and turn out the rest of the noise.''

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