Free Agent Profile: Zack Littell, SP

Zack Littell, SP

Position: SP B/T: R/R
Age: 30 (10/05/1995)
2025 Traditional Stats: 32 GS, 10-8, 3.81 ERA, 1.104 WHIP, 186.2 IP, 130 SO, 32 BB
2025 Advanced Stats: 111 ERA+, 17.1% K%, 4.2% BB%, 4.42 xERA, 4.88 FIP, 4.35 xFIP, 3.2 fWAR, 1.5 bWAR

Rundown

In 2025, Zack Littell notched career highs in starts, innings pitched, and WHIP. His 3.81 ERA was above league average, and he landed in the 98th percentile in walk percentage. Littell would have led qualified Met starters in walk percentage (David Peterson, 32nd percentile; Clay Holmes, 28th percentile; Griffin Canning, 16th percentile; Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill, 13th percentiles). Note: Sean Manaea landed in the 96th percentile but only started 12 games.

Littell is looking to capitalize on what was arguably his best season yet, splitting time between the Rays and Reds in 2025 as he enters his age-30 season.

The right-hander relies heavily on his slider (27.5%), splitter (27.3%), and four-seam fastball (23.8%). He attacks the zone, looking to have the ball put in play for quick outs, though this can also make him susceptible to the long ball. However, he did gave up 36 home runs in 2025, second-most after Washington’s Jake Irvin (38).

He does not throw with high velocity, with his fastball sitting at 92.1 mph, and he relies heavily on command and movement. His fastball generated 16.1 inches of iBV and 7.3 inches of horizontal break, but his spin rate was low at 2,011 rpm. He aims to throw his pitches on the edge of the zone to try to generate chase and weaker contact. Across his pitches, he ran an above average 30.8% chase rate last year.

Littell does not generate significant swing and miss with only a 20.4% whiff rate in his last campaign. He was around league average in generating ground balls with a 40.7% ground ball rate (43rd percentile) as well as hard -hit rate at 40.9% (46th percentile). He was in the 86th percentile in O-Swing% at 30.8%, and 89th percentile in zone% at 54.1%.

By attacking the zone and limiting walks, Littell can go deep in games. Last season, he averaged just shy of six innings pitched per start, at 5.8 innings, and in 20 of his 32 starts, he went at least six innings pitched. Seven of them he completed at least seven innings pitched, and on May 31, he threw a complete game against the Houston Astros.

Contract

MLB Trade Rumors predicts a two-year, $44 million deal for Littell. This is in line with the two-year $22 million contract Adrian Houser signed with the Giants earlier in the offseason.

Recommendation: Worth Checking in With

One of the biggest downfalls of the 2025 Mets was the inability to get quality innings from their starters. Enter Zack Littell. An innings machine, he fits David Stearns’ mold of dishing out short-term contracts to mid-level arms to bolster the rotation.

Citi Field’s dimensions could also help with his home run issue, and his style of attacking the zone lines up with the pitching theories held by new Mets pitching coach Justin Willard.

With the starting pitching market dwindling, Littell should be high on the Mets’ list to add to their rotation for 2026.

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