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Nationals part ways with ex-Rays, Twins veteran starter after trade deadline originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Washington Nationals have parted ways with a nine-year Major League veteran starter.
On Wednesday, the NL East club announced that right-hander Brad Lord was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.
Lord will replace fellow righty Zack Littell, who was designated for assignment by the Nationals.
Littell has made 23 appearances with Washington this season, including 13 starts. His 14.6% strikeout rate is a career low, as he's totaled just 70 punchouts in 112.1 innings.
"To Littell’s credit, he’s performed much better since an awful first month of the season," Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors wrote. 'Despite being tagged for eight runs in a road date with the A’s in mid-July, he still has a 3.98 ERA dating back to the beginning of May."
The Nationals were Littell's sixth team in his nine years in the Majors. He became a solid mid-rotation starter during parts of three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2023-25.
MORE: Tigers receive lousy grade for Tarik Skubal trade to Dodgers from ESPN
Home runs have always been a problem for the 30-year-old, who was an 11th-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2013.
Before his DFA, Littell permitted two homers per nine innings with the Nationals, giving up 25 long balls after he watched 36 fly over the fence in 2025.
Littell does not have the stuff to be a postseason starter, but he could become a valuable innings eater for a contending club down the stretch of the regular season.
More MLB news:
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- What did Mets get for Freddy Peralta? Rays send three prospects for 4.99 ERA SP
- How Cubs inadvertently helped Dodgers trade for Tarik Skubal
- Royals DFA former Phillies All-Star reliever Matt Strahm after trade deadline
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