By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Pitcher Zack Littell of Mebane was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Cincinnati Reds.
The move came a week ago Wednesday night shortly after Littell pitched five shutout innings against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Littell, a former Eastern Alamance standout, had been a starting pitcher with the Rays, and now he joins a Reds team bidding for a spot in the National League playoffs.
In his debut with the Reds, Littell was the winning pitcher in Cincinnati’s 5-1 triumph against the host Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. He struck out eight batters in seven innings, allowing one run on three hits.
Prior to the trade, Littell held an 8-8 record with a 3.58 earned run average with the Rays this year. He had given up 26 home runs – the most in the major leagues this season – but his walk rate of 1.42 per nine innings was the second-best mark in the big leagues.
Littell, 29, becomes a free agent after the season. Because of that, it had been widely speculated that Tampa Bay might trade the right-hander as its postseason prospects dimmed in recent weeks.
The Rays received a couple of minor-league pitchers as part of the trade.
Littell joined the Rays in the spring of 2023. He previously pitched in the major leagues with the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, and Boston Red Sox, while also spending time in the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers organizations.
The move came less than 20 hours prior to the major league trade deadline.
Cincinnati connections
Prior to Littell, the most-recent major leaguer to come out of an Alamance County school was Southern Alamance graduate Dave Sappelt. He also played for the Reds.
Sappelt, an outfielder who was drafted by the Reds, reached the major leagues with Cincinnati in 2011. He later played with the Cubs.
In the NFL, Cummings alum Brandon Tate spent the majority of his professional career with the Cincinnati Bengals (from 2011-15). That was sandwiched between time with the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills (and briefly with the New Orleans Saints) for the return specialist and receiver.
