Free agent RHP Zack Littell fits the White Sox’s need for innings and reliability without paying top-of-the-market prices.
Right-handed pitcher Zack Littell isn’t the type of free agent who gets a tone of media attention. His arsenal isn't overwhelming, and the underlying metrics that usually excite analytically driven front offices won’t jump off the page.
And yet, Littell keeps producing.
His elite control and makes him an intriguing — and potentially savvy — target for the Chicago White Sox in free agency to bolster their starting rotation.
Typically, when you see a pitcher who doesn’t strike out many hitters, allows a fair amount of hard contact, and carries a modest expected batting average, the assumption is that success will be fleeting. That’s the kind of profile advanced analytics often flag for regression.
Littell has defied that expectation for three straight seasons in his prime.
Why? Because he excels in two areas that matter most — and those two traits completely drive his effectiveness.
He gets hitters to chase. And he doesn’t walk anyone.
Littell’s ability to avoid free passes is elite — and remarkably consistent. In 2025, he was in the 98th percentile in walk rate, and the 79th percentile in chase rate.
In 2024 those numbers were 94th percentile and 77th percentile respectively. And in 2023:, he was in the 100th percentile (the best in baseball) in walk rate, and the 79th percentile in chase rate.
Hitters expand the zone against him, and when they don’t, he simply refuses to give away base runners. For a pitcher without overpowering stuff, that combination is paramount.
And it leads to regularly productive outings.
Since the start of the 2023 season, Littell has logged 433 innings with a 3.80 ERA, going 21–24 over that span. As a starter across his career, he owns a 3.86 ERA in a 79 start sample size.
For a White Sox team that desperately needs innings and stability — especially after years of rotation volatility — that kind of veteran presence would be huge.
Contract Fit and Roster Flexibility
Littell will be 30 years old on Opening Day, firmly in his prime. Spotrac projects his market value around three years and $39 million. Roughly $13 million per season.
That price point feels like a sweet spot for Chicago.
He’s not a top-tier free agent arm, but he doesn’t need to be. On a two- or three-year deal, Littell could stabilize the middle of the rotation without compromising payroll flexibility.
And if the rotation ever becomes crowded? He has experience moving to the bullpen — another layer of value for a roster that’s still finding its long-term shape and has a handful of prospects with upside on the horizon.
I really like the complement between Littell's style and the rest of the pitchers on the staff. Sans Davis Martin, many of the White Sox’s young arms (both in the rotation and bullpen) thrive because they have impressive raw stuff that needs to be harnessed.
Littell is a veteran that understands the art of pitching and can offer some tutelage in that regard to his teammates. With a five-pitch mix, pinpoint command, and a game plan built on execution rather than velocity, he’d bring balance to a staff dominated by power profiles.
Between the innings, command, flexibility, and quiet consistency, Zack Littell feels like one of the smartest under-the-radar rotation targets on the free agent market for the White Sox.