Former Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Signs With Washington Nationals

The Cincinnati Reds have one of the best pitching staffs in the entire league. And it's loaded with depth. Hunter Greene, though he's dealing with an elbow injury, is the team's ace. Andrew Abbott is seemingly the No. 2 following an All-Star campaign last season. Nick Lodolo and Brady Singer slot in as the No. 3 and No. 4 in the rotation. Top prospects Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder round out the top six pitchers in the organization. Beyond them, the Reds have Brandon Williamson and Julian Aguiar coming off injuries as well as a slew of other pitchers.

As a result, the Reds were seemingly content with Nick Martinez leaving town earlier this offseason, as he signed a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Reds have also showed no interest in bringing Zack Littell back to the roster after trading for him at the trade deadline last offseason. On Sunday, ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel reported that Littell had agreed to a deal with the Washington Nationals.

Zack Littell lands with Nationals after short stint with Reds

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Zack Littel — Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Zack Littell (52) circles back to the mound between pitches in the third inning of the MLB National League Wild Card Game 2 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. The Reds were eliminated from the postseason with an 8-4 loss to the reining World Series Champions La Dodgers. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

At the time of the trade, it didn't make much sense. The Reds had enough pitching to finish the season, it seemed. But Burns battled some injuries while Greene was also questionable at times with lower body injuries. As a result, Littell played a huge role in getting the Reds to the postseason. But Cincinnati didn't need him anymore with all of their pitching depth, so the front office never showed any real interest in retaining him.

Still, he had a good stint with the Reds and should contribute to the Nationals this season.

Last year, Littell made 32 starts with a 3.81 ERA over 186 2/3 innings. For the Reds, he made 10 starts with a 4.39 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. Littell also made a postseason appearance for the Reds in which he allowed six hits and three earned runs over 3 1/3 innings.

The Nationals need consistent pitching and Littell is the perfect option to sign. He had a great season last year, but the underlying metric suggest he was getting fairly lucky, so a lot of teams have avoided him.

Don't be surprised if he finds some success with the Nationals this season.

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