Contemplating Zach Littell

Zach Littell went 19-1
while splitting 2017
across two levels,
two organizations
and three teams.

Zach Littell, who was called up earlier on Monday to shore up the overworked Twins bullpen, fared ill in the 10th inning Monday night. He allowed a single, hit a batter, and walked two -- the last with the bases loaded.

To be fair to him, had Jorge Polanco made a good throw home on the bases-loaded grounder the batter before that final out, the Twins might have gotten a double play, in which case that walk would have merely refilled the bases.

Still -- he walked in the winning run. Gotta make 'em hit the ball. And the Twins promptly returned him to Triple A, doubtless to contemplate the error of his ways.

Littell came to the Twins last summer (with lefty Dietrich Enns) when Minnesota flipped Jamie Garcia to the Yankees. He was called up earlier for a spot start, in which he walked four men in three innings and allowed six runs.

So now it's six walks (and a hit batter) in 3.6 big-league innings. This is, obviously, not good. It also contradicts Littell's minor league history. He's a strike-thrower, a "pitchability" guy with a varied repertoire but lacking one truly dominant offering.

That's the profile of a starter. And despite the poor first impression he's making in these initial one-and-done callups, he is may well get a longer opportunity as a starter later this summer if and when the Twins start unloading some of the veteran starters.