SF Giants option Zack Littell day after heated moment with Gabe Kapler

SAN FRANCISCO –Zack Littell was optioned to Triple-A in the hours following an altercation with Gabe Kapler during a pitching change against the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.

Littell had given up two runs in the eighth inning and drew a double play, but took exception to being pulled for Scott Alexander to face lefty Matt Olson after that. He slammed the ball into Kapler’s hand on the exchange and spat a few words his way.

“I said that I wanted Olson,” Littell said. “Not that I pitched well enough to deserve that at all. Any guy out there is going to want to finish the inning he started. That’s all it was, frustration that I didn’t get through that. Not by any means frustration toward him, just frustration in myself.”

Broadcast cameras caught Kapler and Littell hashing it out below the dugout and the pair met in Kapler’s office after the game to talk it through.

“It was not handled the way I should have handled it or wanted to handle it,” Littell said. “Stuff like that gets caught up in the heat of competition sometimes. Obviously don’t view myself as that guy to lose control like that, but it’s a learning experience going forward.”

Kapler said the issue was squashed, but the swift move to option Littell could send a negative signal to the rest of the clubhouse. After the game, Kapler said he understood Littell’s emotions.

“Obviously he’s a competitor and wanted to finish that inning. And I think it was just his wanting me to know that he wanted to finish that inning,” Kapler said. “We discussed it and he knows when I come out to get the ball he needs to put the ball in my hand and we’ll talk about anything later.”

It was a rare instance this year in which a player lashed out publicly.

“What happened was purely out of self frustration in my performance and came out in a disrespectful way toward him and obviously that’s not my intention at all,” Littell said.

Alexander completed the four-out save, his first save since Sept. 9, 2018 against Colorado while pitching for the Dodgers. Camilo Doval and John Brebbia were unavailable to pitch.

“That’s something we don’t want to address during the game, but we knew we didn’t want to address during the game, obviously,” Kapler said. “But we had a job to do and finish the game and get through that last inning and that was the priority and after the game I went in and apologized for my part in it and moved forward.”