Photo by Sol Tucker/TalkNats
When Zack Littell was signed to his deal with the Washington Nationals during the middle of Spring Training, he came with the reputation of being an innings eater who will win you games. While the Nats were probably hoping for a replication of his 3.58 ERA with Tampa last year, the Nats currently have a 5.23 ERA pitcher — and that really doesn’t tell the full story. Let’s state the positive, the Nats are 6-5 in the 11 games Littell has pitched in. Also, in his last five starts, he’s only given up a combined 6-earnies.
Last night, Littell did something selfless. He finished the 8th inning with a pitch count of 94. He easily could have opted for a shower and called it a night. Instead, he told his manager, Blake Butera, that he wanted to give the overworked bullpen a day-off. Littell took the mound and finished the game with 106 pitches. He put team before self. Something you rarely see with the modern athlete.
“That was the perfect opportunity to give the guys in the bullpen a break, so I told Blake I wanted them to be able to take a break.”
— Littell said after the game
Before the game, we knew that lefty PJ Poulin was going to be the “opener” and Littell would be the bulk pitcher of the game. We weren’t sure what would have happened if Littell struggled as the three long-men, Andrew Alvarez, Brad Lord, and Mitchell Parker, were all on heavy pitch counts for the past several days. Sure, Paxton Schultz could have pitched the 9th inning, and maybe he should have — but Littell was brought to the Nats to eat innings, pitch well, be a mentor to the younger pitchers, and win games. Up until last night, he had done all of that except eat innings.
Looking around, there are plenty of guys who are team before self types of people. Most of that is done behind the scenes. Littell’s contribution was tangible just like going over .500 at the deepest point in a season since July 1 of 2021.
Last night was Memorial Day, not the 4th of July when you expect fireworks. The bombs were bursting in air last night for a Nats team that shot six home runs into the sky. Winning feels good on this team.
Littell’s resumé has a bonus section that shows that he has pitched in four different postseasons for four different teams. That experience and leadership could be very valuable on a team where he, Miles Mikolas, and Curtis Mead are the only three players on the active roster with postseason experience. Joey Wiemer has a game of postseason experience, but he is currently in Triple-A. And while Gus Varland has a World Series ring from the Dodgers, he didn’t make it to their postseason roster.
Sure, it’s too early to talk playoffs. Playoffs?!? Right, the Nats would have to leapfrog four teams today just to be in that conversation. But as Jacob Young said, ❝WHY NOT US!❞
The Nats playoff odds jumped to 10.9 percent to make the postseason, and 0.1 percent to win the World Series. A month ago, the Nats were under 2 percent to make the postseason. Crazier things have happened in baseball. The Wild Card standings are jam packed in the NL. If this were the American League, the Nats would be the No. 2 seed today in the Wild Card if the season was over.
❝Ultimately, the record doesn’t really matter until the end of the year, but at the end of the day, having games like this — the way we are playing lately, keep stacking good game after good game. Look up a couple months down the road and see where we are at. At the end of the day, just happy with the win, and the way we’re playing.❞
— manager Blake Butera on going over .500
For now, enjoy the ride. The season has 107 games remaining on the regular season schedule. But maybe don’t plan a October vacation just yet.
Leave a Reply