Yankees Should Stay Away From Zack Littell at All Costs

The New York Yankees’ bullpen is in a precarious spot as August wraps up and they head into the final month of the season.

New York’s bullpen currently has the best ERA in the majors (3.02), but it has come at a cost. Manager Aaron Boone’s bullpen has been overworked, and they lost one of their key options – Fernando Cruz, reportedly due to a partially torn UCL, which could sideline him for a long time.

For a team like the Yankees, who dream of making a deep playoff run and getting to the World Series, the last thing you want is your bullpen to fall apart at this time. That said, general manager Brian Cashman kicking the tires on free-agent pitcher Zack Littell should send a blaring alert that the Yankees could be in trouble.

On Thursday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees “are among the teams that have at least checked in” on Littell. The 30-year-old Littell cleared waivers today after he was sent packing by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A potential Zack Littell signing would not give the Yankees bullpen the boost it's looking for

The right-handed pitcher did not look good in his short stint with the Diamondbacks, who signed him on August 10 after the Washington Nationals cut ties with him three days before. Littell had a 7.50 ERA and a 9.00 FIP in three appearances, further illustrating his struggles on the mound.

The veteran hurler allowed an eye-popping 21 hits, 10 earned runs (five home runs), and four walks, while only three strikeouts in 12 innings pitched. The long ball gave him problems with the Nationals as well, surrendering 30 homers in 26 appearances (14 starts).

Between his two stops in Washington, D.C., and Arizona, batters loved facing Littell. Opponents had a .278 batting average and .841 OPS. This season, Littell has a 5.6% home run rate (highest of career outside of 2020 – 16.1%), 13.5% strikeout rate, and 7.2% walk rate.

Simply put, Littell isn’t missing many bats, and opponents are crushing him, as evidenced by his 43.8% hard-hit rate.

That being said, if you’re the Yankees and are trying to catch the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East crown, Littell wouldn’t be a game-changing signing. He will help eat innings as a long reliever per se, but he clearly doesn’t have the stuff to be used in medium- or high-leverage spots.

In fact, in high-leverage spots this season, opponents are slashing .244/.315/.467 with two home runs and a .782 OPS off Littell in 19 games.

The batting average and home runs go up in medium leverage – .255/.296/.435 with .731 OPS and nine homers.

For all that, the Yankees are better off continuing to run out Ryan Yarbrough, who has pitched better this month, sporting a 2.57 ERA in four appearances. At this rate, it’s clear that Cashman is doing the best he can to help out the bullpen after falling to get more help at the trade.

We already saw the Yankees call up Justin Topa and then sign Michael Fulmer this week. Littell would fall into that same category. These types of arms might get you to the finish line of the regular season, but won’t get the job done in the postseason.

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