The Cubs promote the left-hander Luke Little of mayors, reports Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. There is little left on the 40-man roster but the Cubs already have a vacancy there. A corresponding move is needed to get him on the active roster.
It was a belated birthday present for Little, who turned 23 just a week ago. The ironically-named Little, listed at 6’8″ and 220 pounds, was selected by the Cubs in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He made an 11-inning professional debut in the Complex League in 2021 before getting a bigger body of work after that.
He split 2022 between Single-A and High-A, throwing 65 2/3 innings with a 2.47 earned run average. His 13.3% walk rate was on the high side but he matched it with a whopping 35.4% strikeout rate. This year, he went from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A with a combined 2.12 ERA in 63 2/3 frames. He still issued walks at a high clip of 15.1% but struck out 37.6% of batters faced.
Those strong results caught the attention of prospect evaluators, who have Baseball America he currently ranks #19 in the Cubs system, highlighting his fastball speed. He will now get a chance to try his hand at taking out major league hitters and make his major league debut when he enters a game.
The club doesn’t have much of a left-handed presence in its bullpen this year. Brandon Hughes made 17 appearances earlier in the season but has been sidelined for several months with a knee injury. Anthony Kay has an ERA of 6.35 in his 13 contests and is currently on optional assignment. To leave Drew Smylywho has struggled in the rotation and bumped into the bullpen, as the club’s only Southpaw reliever at the moment.
Bringing the Littles to the big leagues will give them another option in that department as they enter the final few weeks of the playoff race. Their 75-64 record puts them 2.5 games behind the Brewers in the Central and in possession of the second National League Wild Card spot.