Veteran Toronto Blue Jays reliever Brendon Little is off to a brutal start this season, allowing seven earned runs in his first two appearances after a four-run debacle against the Colorado Rockies in a matchup on Monday, March 30.
Little came on in the 6th inning of a 9-1 game versus Colorado with a man on first. He struck out Kyle Karros, then allowed a run-scoring hit to Braxton Fulford. Brenton Doyle singled, and Hunter Goodman walked, loading the bases for Willi Castro. The veteran delivered a two-run double. Ezequiel Tovar followed with a two-run double of his own. A T.J. Rumfield groundout brought a merciful end to the frame.
The beginning of the 2026 campaign has been so brutal for Little that Mitch Bannon of The Athletic suggested the lefty could be heading to the minors. Little has one minor league option remaining and could be sent down to work through his ongoing issues. Toronto desperately needs fresh arms after losing starter Cody Ponce to a difficult injury in the third inning. The Rockies’ matchup went so poorly that catcher Tyler Heineman pitched multiple innings.
Scuffling Brendon Little Could Be Demoted By the Toronto Blue Jays
Little’s first outing of the year was similarly underwhelming. He entered in the 7th inning of a 2-1 game against the Athletics. The A’s had two runners on base after Mason Fluharty allowed a pair of singles. Little struck out Andy Ibanez, then allowed a run-scoring single to Denzel Clarke after a double steal. A walk by Nick Kurtz loaded the bases. Little then tossed a knuckle curveball to Shea Langeliers that he deposited over the center field wall for a grand slam.
Toronto ultimately won the game, staging a furious comeback capped off by an Ernie Clement walkoff single in the 11th inning. Alejandro Kirk sent the game to extra innings with a solo home run in the 9th inning.
Little was a first-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2017. He made just one big-league appearance with Chicago. The lefty was knocked around for three earned runs in 0.2 innings. The Cubs shipped him to the Blue Jays for cash in November 2023.
Little Unable to Replicate Regular Season Success
Little had a strong 2025 campaign. He pitched to a 3.03 ERA across 79 appearances. The considerable workload may have caught up to him in the postseason, as he stumbled to an 11.25 ERA across four innings. Little suffered a blown save in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners. He was tagged with the loss in Game 3 of the World Series after Freddie Freeman launched a solo home run in the 18th inning.
With Eric Lauer currently in the rotation, Fluharty is the only other lefty in the Blue Jays bullpen. The organization has a handful of veteran lefties in the minor leagues. Josh Fleming has a few years of big-league experience, though he’s more of a long reliever. Joe Mantiply might make more sense as a Little replacement. The former Arizona Diamondbacks reliever inked a one-year deal during Spring Training.
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