Zack Littell, tonight's starting pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts as they open their 2018 season at home against the Birmingham Barons, is well aware of the lofty bar he set last year.
Just how lofty?
Should Littell be the losing pitcher this evening at AT&T Field, where first pitch is set for 6:15, he would match his loss total from last season, when he made 25 starts.
Root, root, root
The Chattanooga Lookouts, who have won at least a share of the Southern League title two of the past three years, open their 2018 season with a five-game home series against the Birmingham Barons. Tonight’s first pitch at AT&T Field is at 6:15, with 7:15 p.m. starts on Friday and Saturday, 2:15 on Sunday and 7:15 on Monday. For a look at this year’s team, go here.
"Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before, but topping that will be really tough," Littell said this week. "I just have to go into this with the same mindset I had last year, which is simply to give your team a chance. Everything else tends to take care of itself.
"Last year was crazy, because at a certain point, winning 19 games wasn't in my control. It just kept happening."
The 22-year-old from Mebane, N.C., is coming off a sensational season in which he posted a combined 19-1 record for two organizations spanning three leagues. He began last season in the New York Yankees organization and went 9-1 with a 1.77 ERA for the Tampa Tarpons of the high Single-A Florida State League.
That earned Littell a promotion to the Double-A Eastern League's Trenton (N.J.) Thunder, where he went 5-0 with a 2.05 ERA. On July 30, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-hander was traded from New York to the Minnesota Twins as part of the deal that sent veteran big-league starter Jaime Garcia to the Yankees.
Littell took his talents to the Southern League, where he went 5-0 with a 2.81 ERA in seven starts for the Lookouts, and he was placed on Minnesota's 40-man roster in November along with Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe. Gonsalves is scheduled to start Friday night's game for the Lookouts, with Thorpe scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
"Zack is just a call away from the big leagues," said Tommy Watkins, who's in his first year as manager of the Lookouts. "I think he's got the highest winning percentage in all of the minor leagues the past two or three years, so it's just good to have him on our side."
Littell did post a combined 13-6 record in 2016, when he was in the Seattle Mariners organization and competed at the Single-A and high Single-A levels, so his two-year mark is a staggering 32-7. Racking up more wins this spring certainly would be noticed by the Minnesota brass, but Littell isn't thinking that far ahead.
"I can't control any of that," he said. "If I get a call, then I get a call. The game is the same. You still have to go out there and compete and throw. If you change your mindset for something like that, you're really not doing your job.
"I've fine-tuned a lot of my pitches as far as my slider and changeup. My changeup was pretty good last year, and I've been just trying to build off of that. I'm just trying to worry about what I can control."
Littell is quick to praise the teams he played for last year when discussing his stellar record. Tampa went 46-19 during the first half of the Florida State League season while he was compiling his 9-1 mark, and his 5-0 records with both Trenton and Chattanooga accompanied teams that went 92-48 and 91-49, respectively.
With more than half of Chattanooga's roster from last season starting out with this year's Lookouts, another banner year for Littell could be in store.
"I think the team is going to be pretty good, because even the new guys had really, really good numbers last year and are really good players overall," Littell said. "There is a lot to be excited about. I don't like to put expectations on anybody, but we expect to be pretty good."
While it remains to be seen if a 19-1 record can lead to a big-league career, it has helped result in Littell's first opening-night start.
"I'm excited about this," he said. "Opening day is a special day for the fans and the players. It's what you build up for all offseason. I'm ready to go."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.