Southern notes: Littell does little else but win
A 20-win pitcher, a rarity in the Majors, is all but nonexistent in the Minors, where the season is shorter and workloads monitored closely.Zack Littell, though, has been approaching the milestone -- last achieved in the Minors by Quad City's John Fritz in 1992 -- and could still reach the
A 20-win pitcher, a rarity in the Majors, is all but nonexistent in the Minors, where the season is shorter and workloads monitored closely.
Littell, traded twice over a nine-month period, is 17-1 with two starts likely remaining in the regular season as he tries to build on one of the best -- and most traveled -- years in the Minors recently.
"It's been a little crazy," said the 21-year-old right-hander from North Carolina.
Littell was traded by Seattle to New York last November for reliever
Littell could have a long stay with Minnesota if he is able to continue his 2017 success.
While with the Yankees, Littell was 9-1 with a 1.77 ERA in 13 games for Class A Advanced Tampa and 5-0 with a 2.05 ERA in seven games for Double-A Trenton. Since switching to the Southern League from the Eastern, Littell is 3-0 with a 3.03 ERA in five games for Double-A Chattanooga. Littell's only loss came April 21 with Tampa, and the only two runs he allowed over five innings in that game at Lakeland were unearned.
Minnesota's No. 16 prospect has won 15 straight decisions and has a 2.11 overall ERA with 133 strikeouts to 36 walks in 145 innings. Opponents are batting .239, and he has two complete games.
Littell has put up numbers most could just dream about, despite not lighting up radar guns.
Throwing 97 mph helped him get taken in the 11th round of the 2013 Draft by the Mariners as a raw 17-year-old. Throwing hard, but right down the middle of the plate got him lit up in Rookie ball and prompted a transition that is serving him well now.
"I don't think velocity is worth sacrificing for command," Littell said.
His fastball now usually sits around 91-92 mph. It is rarely thrown anywhere near the middle of the plate, though, and regularly generates ground balls.
"He can manipulate the location of the ball within the zone, which is huge for him," Chattanooga manager Jake Mauer said.
Littell uses an effective curve and changeup combination that he can also command to set up his fastball, making for a mix that has been tough for hitters to barrel up.
The Chattanooga rotation this season has featured the Twins' top four pitching prospects --
Littell offers a bit of a different dimension.
"He's been a good addition for us," Mauer said. "It's obviously nice to add a more polished guy into your rotation and know what you're going to get."
Littell, who is 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, looks like the power pitcher he once was and just might be again at some point as he matures.
"I think it's in there," Littell said of an eventual uptick to the speed of his fastball to where it once was.
He's not willing to push the issue right now, though.
"Velocity is just like a bonus," said Littell, who finished last season at 8-1 with a 2.51 ERA in the hitter-friendly Class A Advanced California League. "If you have it and command it, then you are just that much harder to hit. But I think I've showed that you don't need velo to be successful.
"At the end of the day, the big thing is getting outs. It doesn't matter if you do it throwing hard or spotting up your fastball and working off your curve or change. Velocity isn't even one of things I look at after a game. I really don't pay attention to it."
In brief
Breakout year: Montgomery's
Racking up Ks: The promotion of Birmingham's
Back on track: Mississippi catcher
Waiting for No. 1: Mobile first baseman
Guy Curtright is a contributor to MiLB.com.