Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Has Become One of Baseball’s Top Trade Deadline Wins

The Cincinnati Reds added to their pitching depth on July 30, trading for starting pitcher Zack Littell before the trade deadline.

Since the trade, Littell has been tied for the third-best trade deadline acquisition by fWAR. His fWAR of 0.5 is tied with Freddy Fermin and Adam Frazier, and just behind Carlos Correa and Ramon Laureano.

The veteran pitcher has a 3.06 ERA, a 2.78 FIP, to go along with 14 strikeouts in his three starts with Cincinnati over 17 2/3 innings.

The Reds are 2-1 in those starts with their lone loss coming on Saturday, where they blew a lead in the ninth inning to the Milwaukee Brewers.

On Saturday, he tossed six innings of one-run baseball, allowing four hits, walking a batter, and striking out three.

"I felt good," Littell said. "It was a little different being on the home side, but I felt really good, executed really well early on. I got away with stuff throughout the game...overall it was good."

The Reds are 65-60 and currently 1 1/2 games back of the New York Mets for the third and final National League Wild Card spot.

The best trade deadline acquisitions by fWAR since the deadline ended on 7/31:

• Carlos Correa HOU (0.6 fWAR)
• Ramon Laureano SDP (0.6)
• Freddy Fermin SDP (0.5)
• Adam Frazier KCR (0.5)
• Zack Littell CIN (0.5)
• Dietrich Enns BAL (0.5) pic.twitter.com/e2w95SsNos
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) August 18, 2025