Former SF Giants reliever briefly returns to majors with Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox called upon former SF Giants reliever Zack Littell earlier this week, before he was designated for assignment on Wednesday.

Former SF Giants reliever Zack Littell made his first big-league appearance of the 2023 season for the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. After electing free agency after the 2022 season with the Giants, he was signed to a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers, who never called him up from Triple-A, traded him to the Red Sox on May 5th for cash considerations. His contract was selected the next day, and he was out on the mound a day later. However, after just two appearances, the Red Sox designated Littell for assignment on Wednesday.

Littell, who had a rocky 2022 season with the Giants both as a reliever and starting bullpen games, is looking to return to his 2021 form. In the Giants historic '21 season, Littell pitched 61.2 innings, striking out 63 and earning an ERA of 2.92 with four wins and zero losses. He was an integral part of the bullpen, providing imperative innings that secured several of the team's 107 wins.

But his 2022 did not go nearly as smoothly, and on top of struggles on the mound, he clashed with the coaching staff over his playing time as well. Late last season, in one of his final appearances with the team, Littell got into it with Giants manager Gabe Kapler on the mound. Littell apologized following the events, but he was demoted less than a week later.

Littell started his pro baseball career when he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners organization back in 2013, before being bounced around to the Yankees and then the Twins. He spent three years in Minneapolis with the Twins, making his big-league debut with them in 2018. He appeared in the majors from 2018-2020 with the Twins, but never had consistent playing time in the big leagues, volleying back and forth between the minors and majors.

In his two games with the Red Sox, Zack Littell pitched 3.0 innings, allowing three runs off three hits, and tallying two strikeouts. In eight appearances at Triple-A with the Rangers, the righty posted a 2.25 ERA with 16 strikeouts and just two walks in 12 innings pitched.