The Cubs litany of pitching injuries continued Saturday afternoon.

The team placed righty Hayden Wesneski on the 15-day IL with a right forearm strain and recalled righty reliever Hunter Bigge to take his place on the roster.

Manager Craig Counsell also said lefty reliever Luke Little, who landed on the IL last week in St. Louis, will “likely out for the season” with a left lat strain. The injury does not require surgery, but he will be shutdown while he recovers.

Wesneski, 26, felt the injury Friday while pitching against the Diamondbacks. The righty pitched 1.1 innings in relief of Justin Steele and was removed after the 6th inning.

“Not overly concerned,” Counsell said prior to Saturday’s game against Arizona. “Hoping he can be back throwing within a week. So, good news in terms of that. And hopefully it’s just something minor and we can get him back quickly.”

Counsell equated the situation to Mark Leiter Jr.’s injury last month The righty felt something in his forearm and he and the team opted to place him on the IL in the hopes of providing him rest and time to recover so he could properly perform over the rest of the season.

Leiter landed on the IL on June 23, came back on July 9 and has been inserted into leverage situations almost immediately.

“I think that’s the hope, yes,” Counsell said. “The hope is that can be a similar timeframe.”

Little, 23, suffered the injury on July 12 in St. Louis after throwing just 4 pitches. After his final pitch, he immediately motioned to the Cubs’ dugout and was removed from the game. He landed on the IL a day later.

It’s a tough blow for both Little and the Cubs. The rookie was developing into a trusted member in the Cubs’ bullpen – a role the Cubs have struggled to nail down all season, due to injuries or ineffectiveness from various members of their reliever corps.

“I think Luke had gotten to a point where there was a real role for him on this team,” Counsell said. “And I think there was development that happened this year and I think he was really trending in a good direction.

“And, unfortunately, that’s probably going to have to stop now and wait till next year.”

Julian Merryweather threw 1.2 innings on Friday with Iowa in the latest step in his recovery and came out of the outing feeling good. Counsell said that the “plan remains the same with Julian.” Friday morning, Counsell said a return for Merryweather could happen by next weekend at the latest.

Caleb Kilian, who has been on the IL since the season began with a right shoulder strain, is scheduled to pitch 2 innings on Saturday night for Iowa. He’s reaching the stage in his rehab where he could become an option for Counsell and the Cubs.

“I think, continue to perform well, and yeah, I think we’re getting closer to that,” Counsell said.