In just a pair of appearances, he has allowed 7 runs across less than two complete innings. The struggles for Little date back to the second half of last season. After a very impressive 2.03 ERA in the first half, his ERA swelled up to 4.88 in the second half, and he followed that up with an 11.25 ERA in six postseason games.
Little has tried to incorporate a four-seam fastball in his pitch arsenal, but so far, it has been hit hard and has generated more hard-hit balls to the outfield than ground balls. While his velocity is up (97 MPH), the struggles lie in the command of his pitches. There’s no denying Little has some great stuff with his knuckle curveball and sinker, but when the stuff is being figured out and hit, you’re left with little wiggle room.
Brendon Little’s second appearance of the season:
K, 1B, 1B, BB, 2B, 2B
Loud boos as the inning unravelled.
One note from the wknd. Blue Jays wondered if Brendon Little was tipping pitches. They also wanted more four-seamers (which he worked on in spring).
John Schneider also said Little: “got away from what he was doing in spring” … “just didn’t use his pitches correctly”
Little also has one more option left to be sent down to the minors, so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of probability to send him down to Triple-A Buffalo and work out the issues with the Bisons for a while, away from the spotlight. His performance this spring and the start of last season warranted him a spot on the Opening Day roster, but he’s clearly not able to shake what’s bothering him in Toronto to start the year.
Sure, you can designate him for assignment, but that does more harm than good at this point.
Given the team’s uncertainty with Cody Ponces injury as well as uncertainty with the likes of Yimi Garcia, Jose Berrios, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavages prognosis, making a hasty decision like that may not be the case. As well, Little is one of two left-handed relievers, along with Mason Fluharty. Given that Eric Lauer is currently in the rotation, severing ties with one of their other left-handed pitchers wouldn’t be ideal, especially since the Jays don’t have to make a hasty decision with their 40-man roster.
With 158 games left in the season, there’s not yet a lot of panic sinking in for either the player or the organization, but it would make sense to address this now rather than let it drag on into the coming months, for both Little and the fan’s sake.