Littell's homer problem comes to a head
Zack Littell gave up four more homers in a loss to the Braves, bringing his MLB-worst total to 11 in only 25 innings pitched this season.
Zack Littell feels great. He has said that several times in the last week, as has Nationals manager Blake Butera. There’s nothing wrong physically with the 30-year-old right-hander that would explain his ragged start to the season.
Which, in a weird way, might actually make it harder for Littell to accept his struggles. If he could point to some kind of physical ailment as an explanation for his performance, he might be slightly less bothered by it all.
“It makes it more frustrating, sure,” he said. “This is easily the best I’ve felt physically in a long time.”
If this is the best Littell has felt in a long time, imagine what his stat line might look like if he wasn’t 100 percent. On second thought, don’t imagine it, because it’s only going to cause more pain.
Littell has now made five appearances for the Nats (four official starts, one bulk relief outing after PJ Poulin opened for him) and he is the not-so-proud owner of an 0-3 record, 7.56 ERA and 11 home runs surrendered in 25 innings pitched.
Yes, 11 homers in 25 innings, four of them coming tonight during an 8-6 loss to the Braves that only compounded Littell’s woes.
“It really just comes down to executing better,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of middle-middle misses, and it just feels like everything that comes out of my hand, everybody’s on right now. There are stretches like this, and it’s frustrating. To go out there and give up 16 runs in two runs, it’s just not going to cut it.”
