Zack Littell Is 0-4 With an 7.85 ERA and the Nationals Are Running Out of Time to Save Him

The Washington Nationals are staring down a sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, and veteran right-hander Zack Littell needs to be the one to stop the bleeding. Problem? The 30-year-old has been an absolute disaster since signing as a free agent during spring training.

Littell enters Sunday with a 0-4 record and a 7.85 ERA that's frankly hard to look at. His last three starts have been progressively worse in some ways, progressively catastrophic in others. He gave up eight earned runs against the Braves, then six against another opponent, then four more against the Mets on Tuesday. In that Mets outing, he couldn't even make it out of the fourth inning, allowing eight runs total (four earned) in 3 2/3 innings. And here's the kicker: two of those hits were home runs, including one on literally his first pitch of the game. Over his last four starts alone, Littell has surrendered 11 homers.

The FO Isn't Panicking Yet

Nationals GM Paul Toboni defended his pitcher recently, pointing out that Littell had a late start to spring training as a factor. "We're going to hang by these guys," Toboni said. "Zack has had moments, as has Miles Mikolas, where he's thrown really darn well. We're going to continue to stand by him."

There is one sliver of hope heading into Sunday. The Brewers rank tied for second-to-last in the majors with only 22 home runs on the season, which theoretically reduces the damage a homer-prone pitcher can do. Plus, Littell did pitch decently against Milwaukee on April 12, allowing three runs on six hits over five innings in a no-decision. Career-wise versus the Brewers, he's 0-1 with a 2.35 ERA.

Milwaukee's Bats Won't Cooperate

The Brewers have won five of their last six games and are riding momentum into this finale. On Saturday, they got a strong start from Kyle Harrison and capitalized on a Washington miscue to coast to a 4-1 win. William Contreras went 1-for-4 but that one hit mattered, launching a two-out rally in the first inning. Third baseman Brady House's fielding error on Luis Rengifo's grounder allowed Contreras to score, then Brandon Lockridge followed with a two-run single to put Milwaukee up 3-0 fast.

"I think a lot of us kind of just focus on putting up quality at-bats," Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz said. "That's what we did that first inning. You just try to come through for the team, really. We were able to punch first and keep the lead."

Meanwhile, the Nationals have become a defensive liability, leading the majors with 32 errors in 34 games. Manager Blake Butera acknowledged the problem: "We can do all the work we want to pregame, but if we're not looking at what that work is and making adjustments to it, then we're not doing our job. We're gonna adjust our pregame work and try something a little bit different to clean up these mistakes."

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.