Diamondbacks sign Zack Littell days after Nationals release

It didn't take long for Zack Littell to land on his feet. Washington cut the right-hander loose on August 7th after a rough season, and by the 9th the Diamondbacks had already scooped him up for the rest of the year.

MLB Trade Rumors

@mlbtraderumors

Two days after being released by the #Nationals, Zack Littell inks a new deal with the #Diamondbacks: t.co/2gOxloJxa5

The Nationals were on the hook for the deal already, which made the move easy for Arizona. Littell was on a one-year, $7 million contract with Washington, and per MLB Trade Rumors, the Nats are still covering nearly all of that remaining salary. The Diamondbacks are only paying him the prorated league minimum to bring him aboard, which is about as low-risk a stretch-run addition as a contender can make.

The reason Washington gave up on him is right there in the numbers. Littell carried a career 3.88 ERA into 2026 but cratered to a 4.97 mark across 112 1/3 innings this season, with his walk rate ticking up and his strikeouts drying out. As a starter for the Nationals specifically, he was getting torched to the tune of a 6.18 ERA. Something wasn't clicking in a rotation role, and Washington moved on.

Here's the twist that makes Arizona's bet make sense: when Washington slid Littell into relief work this year, he was a completely different pitcher, posting a 3.18 ERA out of the bullpen. That split is exactly why the Diamondbacks aren't touching his rotation spot.

MLB Trade Rumors

@mlbtraderumors

D-Backs To Use Zack Littell In Relief t.co/JXvOdkziiM

Manager Torey Lovullo has already made clear this isn't a token bullpen arm — Littell is stretched out and built to eat innings behind whoever opens a game. Arizona's rotation is stacked with Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly, Brandon Pfaadt and a returning Michael Soroka, so there's no need to force Littell into a starting gig he'd already struggled in. Instead, expect him in a multi-inning relief or piggyback role, soaking up length when a starter needs a shorter night or a spot opens due to injury.

It's a fitting landing spot for a guy whose whole career has been built on funky, deep outings rather than overpowering stuff. Littell leans on his slider and splitter to grind through lineups, and it's produced some strange trivia along the way — he's the only pitcher in the last 12 seasons to face a batter 5 times in a single game, a workload quirk that used to be almost routine back in the 1970s.

Codify

@CodifyBaseball

Zack Littell is the only MLB pitcher in the last 12 seasons to face a batter 5 times in one game. That happened 386 times during the 1974 season.

For a Diamondbacks club trying to hold its ground down the stretch, adding a durable arm who can throw 100 pitches out of the pen on short notice is a low-cost, high-utility swing. Littell just has to prove Washington was wrong about where he belongs — starting or not.