Brendon Little may have pitched John Schneider into a roster move after another ugly Blue Jays loss Monday.
Toronto's lefty opened 2026 with 2 rough outings, and the latest one felt like the breaking point. Against Colorado, Little's line went strikeout, single, single, walk, double, double as the inning fell apart and Rogers Centre turned on him.
That's why a trip to Triple-A Buffalo feels less like panic and more like the clean baseball move.
The Blue Jays need fresh arms after a 14-5 loss that burned through pitchers, and Little is one of the few relievers on the staff who still has an option left.
The option matters here. FanGraphs' RosterResource lists Little with 1 minor-league option remaining, which gives Toronto a simple path if it wants to reset the bullpen without losing him off the 40-man roster.
And this isn't just about 1 bad night. Little also took a blown save in his first appearance of the year, so through 2 games he's already been tagged for 7 earned runs in 1.1 innings.
The video from Monday tells the story better than the box score.
He got one punchout, then the command leaked, the contact got louder, and the boos hit as the inning kept moving in the wrong direction.
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Little's raw stuff is still there, which is why this conversation is so frustrating for Toronto. He looked like a real bullpen weapon for the first half of 2025 before the season started to slip on him.
Why a Buffalo reset makes sense now
The split is hard to ignore. StatMuse lists Little with a 4.88 ERA in 34 appearances after the All-Star break in 2025, a sharp drop from the version Toronto trusted early last season.
That second-half fade already put pressure on his role coming into camp. Toronto still carried him onto the Opening Day roster, but the leash was never going to be endless after his usage-heavy 79-game season in 2025.
Now the timing lines up for a move. Cody Ponce's injury forced more bullpen coverage Monday, and clubs usually answer that kind of night by bringing in a fresh arm, not by waiting around for a reliever to find it at the big league level.
That doesn't mean Toronto is done with Little. It means the Blue Jays may need him to get back to the version that posted a 2.11 ERA through the end of June last season instead of trying to fix everything under the lights in Toronto.
Schneider has seen what Little can look like when the sinker has life and the counts stay under control. Right now, that pitcher is not showing up often enough, and Buffalo looks like the spot where he can try to get him back.
After a start this rough, and with an option sitting there, the Blue Jays have an easy call in front of them.
Brendon Little still fits this bullpen long term, but the next stop may need to be Triple-A.
On the other hand, if he does not figure it out in the minors, his time in Toronto might be coming to an end.
Should the Blue Jays option Brendon Little to Triple-A right now?
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