Efficient yet unimpressive, Littell did well to complete seven innings in this one despite allowing a four-spot in the third inning. He gave the Rangers a heavy diet of junk around the edges of the plate, but they were aggressive and always seemed to make him pay when he caught a little too much of the plate. They had 10 hard-hit balls in all while Littell forced just five swings-and-misses. With so many short at-bats, he only threw 82 pitches in his seven innings of work. The stuff just isn’t good enough to trust as more than a deep-league streamer when he has a good matchup. He’s scheduled to face the Angels next, which could be a good matchup, although the Rays’ new home at Steinbrenner Field needs to be treated similarly to Yankee Stadium since they each have the same dimensions.

Littell had to settle with the no-decision after getting no runs of support. Still, he was excellent against the Rockies, holding them to one run on four hits over six frames. The 29-year-old right-hander induced 14 whiffs to strike out seven batters. He’ll draw a tough matchup against the Rangers in Texas on Friday.

Any doubts about Littell’s rotation status went away with the Shane McClanahan injury, though he was probably safe anyway. That said, he didn’t inspire a lot of confidence with his velocity down some on his way to posting an 8.10 ERA this spring. He’s probably not a mixed-league guy.