Ross Atkins might not be beloved among Toronto Blue Jays fans, but he's made some strong under-the-radar moves during his tenure as the organization's general manager. One move that is aging very well right now was a trade in the 2023 offseason, which saw the Jays land Brendon Little from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations. Little was an important reliever for the Jays last season, and now looks like one of the best left-handed relievers in the league. He's been that good.
Little appeared in 49 games for the Jays last season and posted a respectable 3.74 ERA in 45.2 innings of work. He allowed more home runs than Jays fans might've liked and didn't strike many guys out, but for the most part, he was useful.
This season, he looks like a different pitcher, and it's thanks in large part to an enormous strikeout boost.
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Blue Jays fans are watching Brendon Little develop into one of the best left-handed relievers in the game
Little has relied more this season than ever on his knuckle curve, and the results have followed. He has thrown it 46.9 percent of the time this season, a sizable increase from 31.8 percent in 2024, and he has an absurd 68.8 percent whiff rate with the pitch. Yes, when the opposing team swings at it, they miss more than two-thirds of the time, and they're hitting just .133 with a .104 expected batting average against. To put it simply, it's one of the best individual pitches in the game right now.
Thanks in large part to that pitch, Little went from having a subpar 18.7 percent strikeout rate last season to a 37.0 percent strikeout rate thus far. He went from a subpar reliever when it came to putting hitters away to one who ranks in the 98th percentile in that metric, according to Baseball Savant. Little has also raised his whiff rate from 29.7 percent last season to 52.7 percent this season. He ranks in the 100th percentile in that metric.
As you might expect from a pitcher who is generating whiffs at this clip, Little is having a monster start to his season. He has a 1.61 ERA in a league-leading 24 appearances and 22.1 innings of work. His walks are higher than the Jays might like, but he's fanned 34 hitters while allowing just 14 hits and one home run.
It's incredibly tough for hitters to make contact against this southpaw, and when contact is made, it's usually straight to the ground. Little ranks in the 96th percentile with a 61.7 percent ground ball rate this season.
There's nothing not to like about how well Little has pitched for the Jays this season, and he's become one of John Schneider's go-to weapons late in games as a result.
Perhaps the best part about Little's ascension is that he's got several years of club control. He doesn't even hit arbitration until after the 2027 campaign. He looks like a reliever who will be recording big outs for Toronto for the next half-decade at least, which the Blue Jays have struggled to find in recent years.