Reds quietly avoided huge mistake as ex-pitcher completely unravels with Nationals

Considering that the Cincinnati Reds have had to play the entire 2026 season (until Friday's game against the Houston Astros) without Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene, their rotation has performed about as well as expected. Despite an ace-caliber turn from Chase Burns, the Reds' starting five ranks 24th in the league in ERA (4.83) and FIP (4.62).

It's fair, then, to question the team's offseason process. Greene and Lodolo have been injury risks for years, yet the front office didn't bring in a single major-league starting pitcher via trade or free agency. In fact, they lost both Nick Martinez and Zack Littell, despite both signing for reasonable one-year deals.

And while it's fair to bemoan the departure of Martinez — he's sitting on a 1.71 ERA through seven starts with the Tampa Bay Rays — no Reds fan should lose sleep over Littell. He's been a disaster all year for the Washington Nationals, to the point where he may need to seek employment elsewhere in short order.

Reds were right to let Zack Littell walk in free agency

In truth, the Reds got what they were hoping for out of Littell's half-season tenure in Cincinnati. He gave them a 4.39 ERA over 10 starts that covered 53⅓ innings, stabilizing the back-end of the rotation as the team pushed for (and barely snuck into) the final wild card spot in the National League.

Valuable though those contributions were, it was clear that Littell is little more than a floor-raiser. That's not meant to disparage him — quality innings-eaters are always in high demand — but when the Reds got their doors blown off by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card Series, it became obvious that the team needed to pursue players with more upside.

Whether or not an offseason highlighted by the addition of Eugenio Suárez actually accomplished that is irrelevant to the main point of this piece. Littell has always been a flawed pitcher, and there were significant fears that his home run problems would grow worse over a full season at Great American Ball Park. Even a move to a more pitcher-friendly stadium in Washington D.C. hasn't helped; he's allowed 13 home runs this season, including two or more in five of his seven starts for the Nationals.

As unreliable as the Reds' rotation behind Burns has been this year, Littell would only be making things worse. He's been one of the worst qualified starters in the sport, with a 7.24 ERA and -1.0 fWAR that both rank toward the very bottom of the league.

With Lodolo returning to Cincinnati, the rotation should be better moving forward. And if you're still committed to spending your time pining for a former Reds starter, focus on Martinez.

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