Zack Littell doesn’t align with many other pitchers in 2025 Major League Baseball.

He isn’t going to just throw his fastball by guys, but that didn’t stop him from getting outs for the Cincinnati Reds in 2025.

Now comes the hard part.

Littell is a free agent, and his metrics are the type that are tough to read. There are always a few pitchers who somehow get more outs than their stuff would have you think. Littell is one of those guys.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel projects Littell to get a two-year, $18 million contract in free agency, not necessarily from the Reds. But that’s not an easy number to arrive at.

“Littell is an odd pitcher to evaluate,” McDaniel said. “His two most-used pitches are a cutter and splitter, and they were his worst-performing pitches by run value last year. As you might have guessed from that, Littell succeeds with excellent control, every sort of deception you can think of and durability. He’s younger than most free agents with that kind of profile, so I assume he can land a two-year deal, but he’s the kind of pitcher who plays a smaller role in the playoffs than the regular season.”

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The Reds have a bunch of pitchers hitting free agency. They’ll likely have to bring back at least a few, and maybe their familiarity with Littell wins out.

If not, Littell will likely have other suitors, but they probably won’t be at the top of the contention ladder. Littell can likely make a solid career for the next five-to-seven years by just going to whichever team will have him and continuing to get outs.

The Reds might still be able to utilize Littell in the chase for another postseason spot, so don’t discount a return.

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