Cubs bullpen suffers another blow, as rookie reliever exits with injury
Luke Little looked to be developing into a trusted member of Craig Counsell’s bullpen.
The Cubs’ rookie suffered a hiccup on Friday night amidst a breakout run. Little exited the Cubs series opener in St. Louis in the 8th inning, 4 pitches into his outing.
On a 1-2 count against Lars Nootbaar, Little fired an 82.6 mph sweeper for a ball, winced and immediately motioned to the Cubs’ dugout. Manager Craig Counsell and trainer Nick Frangella immediately came out and Little exited the game. Mark Leiter Jr. replaced the lefty on the mound.
After the game, Counsell called it “shoulder discomfort” for Luke Little.
Since being recalled on May 15, Little has become one of Counsell’s leverage options. In 19 outings since then, Little has a 1.59 ERA with 20 strikeouts and a .127 batting average against in 17 innings. Little and Porter Hodge have been a pair of homegrown arms that have established themselves as key bullpen cogs.
The injury comes at a pivotal time for the Cubs. They’ll need to cover 18 innings during a doubleheader on Saturday and then the series finale on Sunday before the All-Star break.
The team has not announced a starter for one of the games on Saturday, although Javier Assad could be activated off the IL and start one of those games. They’ll be able to add a 27th man for the day tomorrow.
Leiter Jr. struck out a pair to finish the frame after Little’s injury. He was activated off the 15-day IL on Tuesday and was one of Counsell’s trusted arms in leverage situations before he suffered a forearm strain.
The Cubs have righties Ethan Roberts, Michael Arias and Daniel Palencia in the minors on the 40-man roster that they can call upon on Saturday. All three are at Triple-A Iowa. Julian Merryweather and Caleb Kilian are on rehab assignments with Iowa but aren’t expected to be back before the All-Star break.
An injury to Little would leave the Cubs with just one lefty in their bullpen, Drew Smyly, although Counsell has turned to Leiter Jr. against left-handed pockets in the lineup as he did on Friday night.