This story was excerpted from Adam Berry's Rays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TAMPA -- Zack Littell was standing in front of his locker at Daikin Park on Sunday morning, a little sore and pretty tired but still energized by the kind of start he grew up dreaming about.
“I would say I have another inning in me right now,” Littell said, grinning.
Littell had just pitched nine the day before, throwing a complete game in the Rays’ 16-3 romp over the Astros. It was only the 10th complete game in the Majors this season, and the first by the Rays since Ryan Yarbrough went the distance at Yankee Stadium on June 3, 2021.
How rare is it for the Rays? Consider this: Of the 106 complete games in franchise history, only three have come in the past 10 seasons: Littell on Saturday, Yarbrough in 2021 and Matt Andriese on May 14, 2016. They own the two longest CG-less runs in Major League history: the one between Andriese and Yarbrough (731 games) and the one between Yarbrough and Littell (647).
Throw in Chris Archer’s one-hit shutout in Houston on Aug. 20, 2015, and there have only been four complete games since Kevin Cash took over as Tampa Bay’s manager before the ’15 season. In ’15, there were 104 complete games in the Majors. Last year, there were only 28 -- the lowest total ever, even below the 29 thrown in the pandemic-shortened ’20 campaign.
So yes, it still means a lot to pitchers when they can finish what they started.
“I think it's something that just isn't really developed anymore, like the mindset of a starter. I don't mean that necessarily in a bad way,” Littell said Sunday morning. “[Former Rays starter Zach Eflin] and I used to talk about it a lot: The generation that was really taught to just go get outs was probably like our Draft class.
“They were telling us, 'We don't really care how you get it. If you get through seven innings and you get 21 groundouts, we don't really care if you don't punch anybody out.' The game has shifted, so just from a personal standpoint, I think it's still really cool to be able to go out there and just eat innings."
Littell had never thrown nine innings as a professional, although he pitched some shorter CGs in the Minors. A huge performance by Tampa Bay’s lineup gave him greater freedom to throw strikes and plenty of margin for error, but he admitted Sunday he felt “probably a little more nervous … than I’ve been in a long time” when he went back out to start the ninth.
When Mauricio Dubón reached on a two-out infield single, loading the bases, Littell thought, “Please, don’t let it end like this.” But it didn’t. Littell worked his way around two hits and a walk in the ninth, retired what would have been his final batter regardless and wound up throwing 117 pitches (83 strikes).
“It was kind of a different kind of nerves. Obviously, I've come out of the bullpen into big spots. You have that like adrenaline-type, nervy thing,” Littell said. “But it was very different, just more like a, 'I want to prove this to myself. I want to prove it to everybody that I can do it.'”
The accomplishment wasn’t lost on Cash, coaches or teammates.
“I do appreciate it. I was happy for him,” Cash said. “Our clubhouse, they erupted last night once they got in there and celebrated it. And it's very easy to celebrate 16 runs, but the focal point was him completing the game.”
“First one I've seen in my time here. Pretty special, huh?” added starter Drew Rasmussen, who was called up by the Rays for the first time on June 19, 2021. “It was really special to get to see.”
Two things made it even more special for Littell.
For one, it continues the right-hander’s remarkable story. Two years ago, Littell bounced from the Rangers to the Red Sox to the Rays as a reliever before returning to his roots as a reliable starter. He never lost his belief that he could do what he did Saturday, but it took Tampa Bay’s confidence in him to make it happen.
“It was something I knew I could do,” Littell said. “Did I think it would ever happen again? Like, did I ever think I'd get the opportunity? Maybe not.”
Also, Littell’s wife, Autumn, and their two young sons, Wyatt and Drew, were in attendance, as they flew to Houston to watch the series. They shared a moment after the game that was caught by FanDuel Sports Network’s cameras, much to the delight of Littell’s family watching from afar.
“I think my wife was probably more stressed out than anybody last night,” Littell said. “She's asked me 20 times this morning, like, 'How's your arm?’ … It’s cool to get to see my kids [be there], not that they have any idea what was going on. Wyatt loves watching himself on TV, so that was cool.”