Medicore Giants reliever has words with Gabe Kapler after being removed from the game.
Zack Littell, 26, is in the midst of his second season with the San Francisco Giants and so far it has been one to forget.
Littell has 39 appearances (44 innings) under his belt and is currently sporting a 5.08 ERA and 4.65 FIP. His 81 ERA+ is second lowest on the club amongst qualifying arms, topping only lefty Alex Wood who currently has an ERA+ of 80.
In Monday night’s contest against the Atlanta Braves, the right-handed hurler allowed three hits and surrendered two earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning. When manager Gabe Kapler came out to the mound to pull Littell out, the reliever appeared to have turned around and said some choice words to Kapler.
Giants: Zack Littell has disagreement with manager Gabe Kapler
After Littell and Kapler made it back to the dugout, the 47-year-old skipper appeared to have immediately yanked the pitcher down into the tunnel to further discuss the incident.
Kapler is in the middle of his fifth year as a big league manager after a respectable 12-year career as a player. After a subpar two-year tenure as the manager of the Phillies, he has spent the last three years leading the Giants, who were dominant last year but have scuffled slightly this year.
Kapler has made himself into one of the more well-respected managers around the league so the fact that Littell, a reliever who has largely struggled this season, would stand up to him and be openly against his removal from the game is puzzling.
Aside from Monday night’s incident, the Giants have performed well below expectations after an NL West-winning season last year. Entering Tuesday, the club is 68-73, good for third in the West. Baseball-Reference has their playoff odds at 0.2 percent, a huge fall-off from last year’s playoff march.
It remains to be seen what type of punishment Littell will be facing in the aftermath of his blowup last night. His pitching this season could very easily warrant a DFA in itself so now that he’s publicly got into it with his manager, his days in a Giants uniform are likely numbered.
Once Littell was removed, lefty Scott Alexander came in and slammed the door in the Braves faces, pitching an inning and a third of scoreless ball, earning his first save of the season and making a winner out of Alex Cobb, who pitched seven shutout innings.