Remember Zack Littell? The right-handed reliever who played for the Twins from 2018 to 2020 before signing with the Giants in 2021. Littell isn't a guy who usually makes headlines, but he's all over them Tuesday after he got upset when manager Gabe Kapler took him out of the game Monday night.
Littell entered in the eighth inning of the Giants-Braves game and immediately gave up two runs on a double, walk and back-to-back singles to start the inning. He then induced a double-play grounder before Kapler pulled him.
Littell forcefully put the ball in Kapler's hand and barked at his manager as he walked away. Kapler stared him down and then escorted Littell out of the dugout, where they had a private conversation.
"He wanted to stay in that game, obviously. He's a competitor and wanted to finish that inning. I think it was just his wanting me to know that he wanted to finish the inning," Kapler explained.
"There's obviously a way to do that. Zack knows that. We discussed it and he knows that when I come out to get the ball he just needs to put the ball in my hand and we'll talk about anything later. We open the door for conversations around when players enter and exit games. I'm happy to discuss those things with players and there's a way to do that. I think Zack understands that."
"Obviously on the field we had a little bit and then we spoke in the tunnel. That's something that we don't really want to address during the game," Littell said. "After the game I went in and apologized for my part in it. Moving forward."
It was 3-0 Giants when Littell entered the game and 3-2 when he left. The guy who relieved Littell, left-hander Scott Alexander, got the final out of the eighth inning and pitched a clean ninth for the save.
"We handled it. It's taken care of. I'm not going to get into the details of that conversation, but he understands the situation," Kapler concluded.
Littell has a 5.08 ERA in 33 appearances with the Giants this season.
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