Cubs Reportedly Promoting LHP Luke Little to Aid Beleaguered Bullpen
In a move many anticipated following newly-promoted lefty Charlie Barnes‘ difficult outing, the Cubs are reportedly calling Luke Little up to the big club. Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register was first with the news. Barnes, who was signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, had not pitched in MLB since making nine appearances with the Twins in 2021. He used his 90 mph four-seam and sinker for the most part over three innings of relief, eventually giving up four runs (three earned) on 62 pitches.
Unless you’ve got outlier stuff, it’s going to be really difficult to survive in the bigs with that kind of velocity. I am getting ahead of myself a bit here because nothing has been officially announced yet, but it would seem that Barnes is the corresponding move for Little. With the bullpen taxed and Barnes unavailable for a few days after that extended outing, it would make no sense to keep him on the active roster.
While Little has struggled with control over parts of three big league seasons, averaging a little over seven walks per nine innings, he’s struck out 44 batters in just over 35 innings. Those trends have continued in five appearances for Iowa this season, as he’s struck out nine and walked 10 over 7.2 innings. Perhaps most important for the Cubs at this particular moment is that Little has recorded at least four outs in each of those appearances.
Even if the control issues are alarming, the Cubs desperately need relievers who can miss bats and provide a little length. Getting back to 97 mph on the fastball will help, as Little was down to the league average for lefties at just over 93 mph last season. He’s been just shy of 95 mph with Iowa, so maybe adrenaline will get him ticking up a wee bit.
As strange as it sounds less than three weeks into the season, this team is already in something approaching survival mode. Phil Maton and Hunter Harvey recently hit the IL, and rookie Riley Martin is already among the team’s more reliable relievers. The Cubs need to get to Thursday’s off day, their third in a row, before regrouping back in Chicago for three against the Mets and four more against the Phillies. Then they head to Southern California for three each with the Dodgers and Padres, making it 13 games in as many days.
These next two weeks could either be very fun or more than a little painful. I’m choosing to believe that Little and the rest of the staff will shove, making these recent struggles feel like a faded memory. Surely everyone else can agree to do the same. Right?
Update: Birch reports that the Cubs are also calling up lefty reliever Ryan Rolison, who made 31 appearances (one start) with the Rockies last season. The 28-year-old has 11 strikeouts to six walks and has allowed three earned runs on nine hits over 7.1 innings for the I-Cubs so far. Fresh arms, baby. If Matthew Boyd is indeed going to be ready to return next week, Assad could be optioned to make room for Rolison in the meantime.
