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  • WOLFSON: Zack Littell to Make MLB Debut Tuesday

    Tom Froemming

    By Tom Froemming

    Darren Wolfson of KSTP reported Saturday night that the Twins would be calling up Zack Littell to start one of the games of their doubleheader Tuesday against the White Sox. Littell was promoted to Rochester at the start of May, where he's pitched to a 2.57 ERA over five appearances.

    Image courtesy of Seth Stohs, Twins Daily

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    Here's the full Tweet from Doogie:

    https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/1003128229149003776

    Littell spent April with Double A Chattanooga where his 5.87 ERA and 1.52 WHIP left something to be desired, but that came with an impressive 12.5 K/9 rate and 4.57 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He debuted with Rochester on May 5 and made an immediate impression, pitching six shutout innings.

    In 28 innings with the Red Wings, Littell has a 2.57 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. He also turned some heads in spring training, as he struck out eight batters over five innings of one-run ball before being shifted over to the minor league side of camp.

    Littell was acquired from the Yankees at last year's trade deadline and wound up having a banner year, going 19-1 with a 2.69 ERA between three minor league clubs in 2017.

    Littell entered this season as Twins Daily's No. 11 prospect in the system. His fastball typically sits in the low 90s, but it's said to have a high spin rate and it pairs nicely with his slow curveball. That may not sound like a combination that can dominate, but Littell has averaged 10.9 K/9 between Chattanooga and Rochester this season. He also throws a changeup and has a great feel for pitching.

    It's been quite the journey to the major leagues for Littell, who's still just 22-years-old. This is his sixth season as a professional, but he's already pitched for eight different minor league teams.

    Littell was drafted out of high school in the 11th round by the Seattle Mariners and signed for $100,000. He was traded to the Yankees after the 2016 season and then dealt to the Twins less than a year later. He's already on the 40-man roster, and MLB rules allow teams to carry a 26th man for a doubleheader, so no roster moves will be required to make room for Littell.

    A little over an hour before Wolfson broke the news, our Ted Schwerzler was wondering aloud on Twitter if maybe Littell was Minneapolis bound. Turned out to be a good hunch.

    https://twitter.com/tlschwerz/status/1003106800353316871

    It comes as a bit of a surprise to see Littell getting the call above other, more experienced starters such as Aaron Slegers, Adalberto Mejia and Stephen Gonsalves, but Littell is coming off an excellent month. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but of that quartet, Littell is also the only one who was acquired under the Derek Falvey regime.

    Follow Tom Froemming on Twitter: TFTwins

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    Featured Comments

    The Wise One

    The Wise One 689

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Wrong again. What you asserted is simply not true. Romero has already been rewarded for his success at Rochester. And, as I noted before, besides Slegers, Littell has now leapfrogged over Slegers and 3 other SPs that have had either proven major league experience and/or some current or prior success at Rochester. Namely, May, Mejia and Gonsalves.

     

    Make no mistake, this is a huge opportunity and a vote of confidence for Littell, the youngest SP in AAA for the Twins.

     

    In a discussion of who is to be called up Romero is no longer an option if you haven’t noticed

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    diehardtwinsfan

    diehardtwinsfan 14,830

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    I'm not sure we can say that with positive certainty. This game is rescheduled from early April. The fact is, Gonsalves has been a little shaky after his first two dominant AAA starts. If the Twins thought he was next up they could have adjusted the rotation schedule for him to pitch Tuesday on normal rest vs. today with Rochester.

    They could have... and they didn't. I don't think there's a need to really do much adjusting. They have guys in Littell, Gonsalves, and Slegers that are all fairly close to or ready for the show. This is a perfect chance to get one of them a look (to be fair, they've already given Slegers a look) and Littell lined up. I don't think it's much more than that. I fully expect to see Gonsalves pitching up here at some point. Given all the weather issues we had, there's going to be a few more 26th man opportunities in the not so distant future.

     

    I also think you'll see more of Slegers.

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

    They could have... and they didn't. I don't think there's a need to really do much adjusting. They have guys in Littell, Gonsalves, and Slegers that are all fairly close to or ready for the show. This is a perfect chance to get one of them a look (to be fair, they've already given Slegers a look) and Littell lined up. I don't think it's much more than that. I fully expect to see Gonsalves pitching up here at some point. Given all the weather issues we had, there's going to be a few more 26th man opportunities in the not so distant future.

    I also think you'll see more of Slegers.

    Yeah, I suspect this was a "who lines up that day?" situation, not some in-depth analysis of a prospect's readiness.

     

    Because no matter how bad or great the start is, the player is headed back to Rochester the moment the game ends. 

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    Squirrel

    Squirrel 37,605

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    Yeah, I suspect this was a "who lines up that day?" situation, not some in-depth analysis of a prospect's readiness.

     

    Because no matter how bad or great the start is, the player is headed back to Rochester the moment the game ends.

     

    Yeah. And if it were for more than one start they likely would have worked to line it up in a particular way. It’s kind of nice, though, wanting to see a couple of the pitchers rather than choosing the least awful.

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    Thrylos

    Thrylos 8,325

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

     

    Does he have more than two pitches?  An ok 3rd pitch?  I worry about starters who only profile two pitches...

     

    From here:

     

    He has a two-seam fastball that sits at 89-91 and has a cutter like movement, a four-seamer that he throws at 92-93, which plays up because of high spin rate and advanced command. His main secondary offering is a true plus curveball. He also has an above average changeup that works well against LHBs.  Littell is a student of the game and he spends a lot of time in advanced preparation before each start studying the opponents' hitters, a practice that will serve him well in the bigs. He has the ceiling of a mid-rotation starter with the possibility of seasons better than that.  A young Phil Hughes is a good comparable for Littell, as far as the size and type of pitcher he is, as well as his potential.

     

    So total of 4 pitches.

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    Thrylos

    Thrylos 8,325

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    Re: Littell vs Gonsalves vs Others.  Littell is the most rested.  Plus the last 10 days for Gonsalves:  2 GS, 5-2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 7 BB, 6 K.  The Twins smartly are going with the most rested and hotter arm.

     

    That said,  Omar Bencomo is the hottest starter they have, but like May, he is not on the 40-man roster.  As far as May goes, when he moves up, he will move up for good, and someone will need to be taken off the roster.

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    jokin

    jokin 4,237

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted (edited)

     

    Yeah, I suspect this was a "who lines up that day?" situation, not some in-depth analysis of a prospect's readiness.

     

    Because no matter how bad or great the start is, the player is headed back to Rochester the moment the game ends. 

     

     

    Re: Littell vs Gonsalves vs Others.  Littell is the most rested.  Plus the last 10 days for Gonsalves:  2 GS, 5-2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 7 BB, 6 K. 

     

    The Twins smartly are going with the most rested and hotter arm.

     

    That said,  Omar Bencomo is the hottest starter they have, but like May, he is not on the 40-man roster. 

     

    As far as May goes, when he moves up, he will move up for good, and someone will need to be taken off the roster.

     

    Yep. Littel is the hotter arm of the 3. You can't tell me that Gonsalves' and May's recent struggles didn't play at least a small part in the decision.

     

    It still leaves a question mark on if Slegers "passed the test" or not vs. KC?

     

    Good point on May. Who will be moving down? Magill?

     

    Is Bencomo a legit call-up or just emergency depth?

    Edited by jokin
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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

    I hope they aren't going off tiny, hot, sample sizes, and are calling up the person that best for the context.

    I doubt recent performance is much of a factor. This move makes sense, as the candidates are:

     

    1. May: no way do you call this guy up and end his rehab for one start when you don't need to make a decision for a couple more weeks, especially given his recent performance.

     

    2. Slegers: eh, whatever.

     

    3. Gonsalves: maybe you want to call him up but do you really want to do it for one start when he doesn't really align well in the rotation to do so? Also, he had an absolutely terrible outing last time around (0.2 IP).

     

    4. Littell: a good enough prospect but likely nothing to write home about, a guy you don't really care whether you bounce him around a bit in spot starts.

     

    Slegers and Littell make the most sense here and the Twins have already seen Slegers.

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    gil4

    gil4 2,525

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    Who cares about all the other crap, I hope he blows them away!

    Since "all the other crap" is most of what we discuss here, I'd say there's at least a few crazies who care about it.  I'm sure we all agree the we hope he blows them away (and uses the experience as a springboard to dominate AAA, then gets called back up and had a long and productive MLB career. And always beats the team we acquired him from.)

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    diehardtwinsfan

    diehardtwinsfan 14,830

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    I doubt recent performance is much of a factor. This move makes sense, as the candidates are:

     

    1. May: no way do you call this guy up and end his rehab for one start when you don't need to make a decision for a couple more weeks, especially given his recent performance.

     

    2. Slegers: eh, whatever.

     

    3. Gonsalves: maybe you want to call him up but do you really want to do it for one start when he doesn't really align well in the rotation to do so? Also, he had an absolutely terrible outing last time around (0.2 IP).

     

    4. Littell: a good enough prospect but likely nothing to write home about, a guy you don't really care whether you bounce him around a bit in spot starts.

     

    Slegers and Littell make the most sense here and the Twins have already seen Slegers.

    I think you're a tad low on Littell. I think he and Gonsalves have very similar ceilings for what that's worth. The team will likely want to see both this year and Littell lined up perfectly.

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

     

    I think you're a tad low on Littell. I think he and Gonsalves have very similar ceilings for what that's worth. The team will likely want to see both this year and Littell lined up perfectly.

    Maybe. I'm not super high on Gonsalves, either.

     

    But you're right, they're not terribly different pitchers.

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