Things have not come easy for the Chicago Cubs this season.
Maybe the warning signs should have been there when Jameson Taillon hit the injured list during Spring Training and Justin Steele joined him after Opening Day.
The hope was all their health issues would end by the time they got to this portion of the calendar, but unfortunately, that has not been the case.
Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reports the Cubs have now moved one of their most trusted relievers in Mark Leiter Jr. to the injured list with a forearm strain. They're recalling Luke Little from Triple-A to take his spot.
Leiter signed a minor league contract with Chicago ahead of the 2022 season. He eventually was called up to The Show for the first time since 2018 on April 16 during that campaign and performed well in his 35 appearances with a 3.99 ERA.
The 33-year-old was even better in 2023 when he posted a 3.50 ERA across 69 appearances, being one of the lone bright spots in their bullpen unit.
Much could be the same this season despite his inflated ERA of 5.34. He had been lights out for the early portion of the year before he came back down to earth in the recent months. That might have been due to some arm fatigue, prompting this move to the IL.
Hopefully, as he recovers and gets his arm healthy, this will give him some requisite time off that allows him to be the shutdown guy he was earlier in the season.
Little is back with the Cubs once again.
He's been a player who has shifted constantly between the bigs and Triple-A.
Considered one of Chicago's top prospects before graduating from that status, it looked like he would be a real weapon for this team out of the bullpen when he didn't allow a single run over his seven appearances in 2023.
But, the Major League hitters have caught onto a few of his tendencies as Little has a 4.35 ERA across his 23 games this season that includes one start.
It seems like he could get some extended time with the Cubs this time around, so hopefully he can emerge as a weapon for this team going forward.
