The Toronto Blue Jays have experienced some woes in the injury department , but those issues are far from the only reason they find themselves near the bottom of the American League East and struggling to win ball games.
While it's never easy to not have a full deck of cards, even Toronto's healthy players have not performed well to begin the year. One of the best examples of this came in the bullpen with left-hander Brendon Little continuing issues from last year to begin the season.
After Little posted a jaw-dropping 24.55 ERA and 3.545 WHIP over his five appearances and 3.2 innings to begin 2026, he was optioned down to Triple-A to tune some things up. Since then, he has been absolutely dominant and looks ready to return.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brendon Little | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Since going back down to Buffalo, Little has done exactly what Toronto hoped and looks like he could return to the kind of form that made him a budding star a year ago. Through seven innings over seven appearances, the southpaw has a clean 0.00 ERA, and though he has walked four, he's made up for it with 12 strikeouts as well.
Little is doing everything he can to prove the Major Leagues is where he belongs, and with the way the bullpen has struggled , more performances like this soon are going to land him right back there very soon.
Should he continue to carve up the Triple-A hitting, the team will have no choice but to call him back up and give him another shot .
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brendon Little | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Prior to the All-Star break last year, Little had a 2.03 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 44.1 innings, looking like one of the more dominant left-handed relievers in all of Major League Baseball. Down the stretch, he got a little bit wild and that continued into this year.
If Little has truly harnessed what made him so great in the first half of last year, it could be a massive boost to a bullpen that certainly needs one based on the way the season has gone to this point.
Over the next couple of weeks, Little will be watched closely both by fans and the organization as he continues to try to prove his worth and why he should be back up in the big leagues.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/bluejays/onsi as Blue Jays Star Reliever is Dominating Triple-A Following Shocking Send Down .
