Cincinnati Reds trade for Zack Littell from Tampa Bay

The Cincinnati Reds traded for Ke’Bryan Hayes earlier on Wednesday and late in the night after they picked up a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers they made another trade. This time around they are bringing in right-handed starting pitcher Zack Littell from the Tampa Bay Rays. He started tonight for Tampa Bay against the New York Yankees. Cincinnati is sending left-handed pitching prospect Adam Serwinowski and right-handed minor league pitcher Brian Van Belle out in the deal and it seems Serwinowski is going to a third team and not Tampa Bay, first reported by C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic.

Let’s start off by looking at Zack Littell. He’s a free agent at the end of the year and is making $5,720,000 this season. So he isn’t going to cost much money and there’s also no long-term commitment to him.

This season he’s made 22 starts and has a 3.58 ERA in 133.1 innings. Littell has given up 128 hits, hit five batters, walked 21, and he’s struck out 89. He doesn’t walk anyone. He also doesn’t strike out many batters. That might not be the biggest concern in the world, but Littell has given up 26 home runs this season – the most in the major leagues this year – and is now going to be pitching in a very home run friendly ballpark. Lots of contact and home run prone doesn’t always go well in the summer in Cincinnati.

Home runs haven’t always been a big problem for Littell, but he’s never been particularly good at suppressing them, either. This season he’s giving up more than ever, though.

Littell is a three or four pitch guy depending on how you want to look at it. He throws both a 2-seam and a 4-seam fastball, while also throwing plenty of sliders and splitters. The 2-seam fastball is one that he seemed to pick up once he was acquired by Tampa Bay in 2023 from Boston. His velocity is down for the 4th straight season. He was averaging 95 MPH in 2021 but is now down below 92.

With Hunter Greene hopefully returning to the rotation soon, Cincinnati may have to figure out what to do with a glut of starting pitchers. Chase Burns is likely going to need to be slowed down as the season goes on as he will have a specific number of innings he’s allowed to pitch this year. Littell allows the Reds more options in this scenario. He also gives them the chance to move someone else to the bullpen, or maybe even he winds up in the bullpen himself.

As for what the Reds are sending out in the deal, we will start with the easier one to write about. Brian Van Belle was on the Reds 40-man roster and in Triple-A with Louisville. He turns 29-years-old in five weeks. He’s never pitched in the big leagues. The definition of an emergency starter.

Adam Serwinowski, though, was a solid prospect in the organization. The Reds 15th rated prospect at the time of the deal, Serwinowski was pitching with High-A Dayton. He’s been inconsistent this year, posting a 4.84 ERA in 18 games while throwing 74.1 innings. The 21-year-old lefty had 92 strikeouts and 39 walks in 74.1 innings. Inconsistent control and a lack of a third pitch he uses or trusts has held him back some, but his fastball and breaking ball are quality offerings that could play well in a relief role or in a starting one if he can develop a usable change up and throw a few more strikes. You can see his career stats here.