Eastern alum Littell returns to big leagues, pitches for Red Sox

By Bob Sutton

Special to The Alamance News

Mebane’s Zack Littell is back in the major leagues after a couple of off-field moves on back-to-back days.

Suddenly, he’s wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform.

He made his debut with his new team Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Littell was traded from the Texas Rangers organization, where he had been with Triple-A Round Rock, to Boston on Friday. The Red Sox assigned him to Triple-A Worcester.

On Saturday, the Red Sox selected his contract from Worcester and placed him on their active roster.

He pitched the bottom of the eighth in Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He gave up two two-out runs, surrendering two hits and two walks (one intentional).

Littell, an Eastern Alamance alum, has previously pitched in the major leagues for the Minnesota Twins (2018-20) and San Francisco Giants (2021-22). He also has spent time in the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees organizations.

The Texas-to-Boston trade was made for cash considerations and didn’t involve another player.

With Texas-affiliate Round Rock of the Pacific Coast League, Littell had a 2-0 record and 2.25 earned run average in eight relief appearances covering 12 innings. He struck out 16 and walked two.