It didn’t look good the second Luke Little called for help Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals and now the Chicago Cubs will be without a key reliever because of injury. Little was officially placed on the 15-day IL before Saturday’s double header.
Little began the eighth inning with the Cubs leading 5-0 over the Cardinals and after the fourth pitch of his matchup against Lars Nootbaar the left-handed pitcher called for the team trainer. Following the 5-1 win, Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters that Little suffered a shoulder injury.
The rookie pitcher was on a nine-game scoreless streak as Little had lowered his ERA to 3.46 through 26 innings of work this year prior to Friday’s outing. He was especially great against left-handed hitters, holding them to a .485 OPS, while only allowing one earned run when pitching to lefties over 12.1 innings.
Right-handed pitcher Ethan Roberts has been called up to take Little’s spot in the bullpen. Right-handed starter Javier Assad will serve as the team’s 27th man for the double header in St. Louis and will start the second game.
Roberts, 27, made his return from Tommy John surgery earlier this season, pitching in the majors for the first time in a little more than two years since his rookie year in 2022. Roberts pitched four scoreless innings across three appearances before he was optioned back to Triple-A a week ago.
Little’s loss in the bullpen is nothing to ignore. He was Counsell’s go-to reliever when the opposing team’s batting order had a couple lefties lined up and Little was getting the job done.
(Previous Update)
Yup, it happened again. Left-handed Cubs reliever left Friday night’s game vs. the Cardinals with an injury after calling for the team trainer following his fourth pitch out of the bullpen. Little came in during the eighth inning and something went wrong on the 1-2 pitch to Lars Nootbaar. The Cubs pitcher immediately felt discomfort, signaled for the trainer and bent down in front of the mound in frustration.
After a quick meeting with Craig Counsell and the trainer, Little walked off the field.
Little, 23, has posted a 3.43 ERA in 26 innings with the Cubs this year. He’s really only had one awful outing, which came on April 27, against the Boston Red Sox. In that appearance Little gave up five runs and was only able to record two outs before he was lifted. Besides that bad performance Little has been rock solid when called upon, allowing a total of five earned runs in his other 28 appearances, covering 25.1 innings (1.78 ERA).
His recent stretch of dominance dated back to June 14, as Little had gone nine straight appearances without allowing a run.
The Cubs have been brutalized with injuries throughout the 2024 season and the pitching staff has especially been hit hard. Little had been part of a bullpen group that has finally been effective for the Cubs since the beginning of June, but now it appears as though the hard-throwing left-hander will miss some time on the injured list.
