Tampa Bay Rays Place Pitcher Zack Littell on Injured List With Shoulder Fatigue

Zack Littell, the most experienced pitcher remaining in the Tampa Bay Rays' rotation, has been sidelined for the next two weeks due to right shoulder fatigue.

Aug 9, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Zack Littell (52) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Tropicana Field. / Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Rays placed right-handed pitcher Zack Littell on the 15-day injured list with shoulder fatigue, retroactive to Aug. 15, the team announced Saturday.

Littell last took the mound Wednesday against the Houston Astros, allowing one run, one hit and two walks in 5.0 innings. His next start was slated to come against the Oakland Athletics next week, but he is now ineligible to return to the active roster until Aug. 30.

The 28-year-old righty is 5-7 with a 3.89 ERA, 1.311 WHIP, 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings and a 1.7 WAR through 24 starts this season. Over his previous four starts, Littell was 2-1 with a 1.19 ERA, 0.882 WHIP and .188 batting average against.

Tampa Bay recalled left-handed pitcher Tyler Alexander from Triple-A Durham to fill Littell's roster spot.

The Tampa Bay Rays have placed RHP Zack Littell on the 15-day injured list (retro to 8/15) with right shoulder fatigue and recalled LHP Tyler Alexander from Triple-A Durham.

— Rays Communications (@RaysPR) August 17, 2024

Littell is hitting the injured list just one day after Ryan Pepiot was deemed healthy enough to return to the majors. Pepiot had been on the 15-day injured list himself due to a right knee infection.

With Pepiot returning, it looked like the Rays would have a full five-man rotation of Pepiot, Littell, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz and Jeffrey Springs for the home stretch. Instead, Littell went down and won't be back until the end of August at the earliest.

The Rays had already lost key rotation pieces when they traded Aaron Civale to the Milwaukee Brewers and Zach Eflin to the Baltimore Orioles ahead of July's trade deadline. And while Baz, Springs and Drew Rasmussen have all returned from Tommy John surgery, ace Shane McClanahan remains out for the year.

Tampa Bay improved to 60-61 with a win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, but they have two games left against the hottest team in baseball. The Rays remain under .500 and 6.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot, and now they will have to stay afloat without their hottest, most experienced and second-most valuable starting pitcher.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our FanNation on SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

You can also follow Sam Connon on Twitter @SamConnon.