Plagued by skyrocketing walk rates and diminished control, the once-promising southpaw heads to Knoxville to rediscover his command after struggling through a statistically grueling stretch at Triple-A Iowa.
Things aren’t looking too great for Chicago Cubs pitcher Luke Little right now.
The southpaw was recently demoted to Double-A Knoxville after struggling at Triple-A Iowa in recent weeks. Before the demotion, Little had a 5.70 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP across 23 ⅔ innings pitched.
It has been a rough year for Little down in the minors. His overall numbers have taken a huge step back from 2025, when he finished with a 2.87 ERA and 75 strikeouts across 59 ⅔ innings pitched.
This season, Little’s numbers are down across the board. His ERA has skyrocketed to 5.70, his 1.77 WHIP is a career worst, and his Triple-A metrics were a bit worrisome. The 25-year-old ranked in the bottom half of the league in xwOBA (.375), average exit velocity (90.3 mph), strikeout rate (22.1%), walk rate (20.4%), chase rate (24.2%), and zone-contact rate (83.1%).
The biggest concern with Little this season has been his increased walk rate and decreased strikeout rate. Those two combined made the left-hander an inconsistent bullpen arm for the Iowa Cubs.
The walks have always been a problem for Little. He had a 14% walk rate in eight games at Triple-A in 2023, had a 16.5% walk rate in 30 appearances for the Cubs in 2024, and had a 13.5% walk rate in 43 games at Triple-A in 2025.
But this year, the walks have reached an all-time high. He walked 23 batters across 23 ⅔ innings in Iowa, and his 20.4% walk rate ranked in the bottom 10% of the league at Triple-A. Those are clear signs that Little has some major control issues on the mound.
That’s likely part of the reason Little was demoted to Double-A last weekend. He’ll work with a new pitching staff down in Knoxville and face a younger group of hitters in hopes of being more consistent.
The left-hander threw one scoreless inning with one hit, one walk, and one strikeout on Sunday in his first appearance since being demoted to Double-A. It was a nice first outing with the Smokies, as Little tries to gain his confidence back.
It’s unclear when the Cubs will promote Little back to Triple-A, but the organization is obviously trying to find ways to help the 25-year-old amid a rough year on the mound.
It’s not a good sign to see a once top-30 prospect in the organization go from Triple-A down to Double-A in a season. However, this is just a way for the Cubs to help Little work on his control issues.
