DUNEDIN, Fla. — It was the biggest regret of Brendon Little’s season. Yes, the misplaced sinker that Cal Raleigh crushed to left field, the tying run in the Toronto Blue Jays’ Game 5 loss in the American League Championship Series.
But, more than that, he regrets what transpired before.
Little knew the pocket of hitters he would likely be tasked with that October night, starting with Raleigh. The Jays liked his ability to induce groundballs against the heart of the Seattle Mariners’ order. Little got up in the bullpen during the fifth, seventh and eighth innings to prepare for his pocket. He threw five times that day, Little said, and was simply gassed when he entered the game. His velocity was down and his pitches were flat, no match for Raleigh’s power.
“I should have been like, ‘I’ve thrown way too much,’” Little said. “That was my fault.”
That moment, Little said in the Blue Jays spring training clubhouse on Friday, is what he’s looking to avoid in 2026. On top of adding two new pitches and living more in the strike zone, Little has a plan to be sharper and fresher after the longest season of his life. He wore the burden of a crushing playoff loss. Now Little’s learning from it, hoping to become a trusted lefty in the Blue Jays bullpen again.
John Schneider was asked to confirm that Kazuma Okamoto’s flight from Japan arrived:
“Last time I tracked a flight it didn’t go so well”
(He’s supposed to get here at 4pm, he said) #BlueJays
— Mitch Bannon (@MitchBannon) February 13, 2026
Little led the American League with 79 outings last year, plus six more in the postseason. He was among the best southpaws in baseball in the first half, posting a 2.03 ERA with 2.32 strikeouts for every walk. In the second half, the strikeouts fell, the walks jumped and his ERA ballooned to 4.88. Little’s second-half struggles were a combination of fatigue and opposing batters making obvious adjustments. He’s planning to combat both this year.
Little said he could tell that hitters knew what was coming as the season went on. His catchers could tell, too, and they told him. But Little didn’t really have a pivot. In hitter-friendly counts, Little was forced to throw his sinker. When he had the edge, batters expected the power curveball. The two pitches comprised 92 percent of the lefty’s offerings, leaving little element of surprise.
In the final months of 2025, Little picked up a cutter, looking for something else to throw in the zone. He was never fully sold on the pitch, though. This spring, he’s more confident in his additions: a new slider and tweaked four-seam fastball. Little said the pitches are easier to command, which should help lower his 15.3 percent walk rate, the highest among qualified relievers. They also provide alternatives to his primary sinker and curve, to keep batters from sitting on obvious offerings.
More than anything, Little wants to avoid another Game 5 debacle. It wasn’t the first time he threw too many pitches pre-game or ramped up far too fast in the bullpen. During initial meetings with Toronto’s pitching staff this spring, Little and coaches decided to ease back his pre-game catch play and bullpen work. He’s planning to throw 70 percent effort in catch play, Little said, and maybe 80 percent in bullpens.
It’s the type of adjustment that may not bear fruit in April or May. But, if Little is tasked with the heart of the order in a big September or October outing again this year, the lessons of 2025 may help.
Tyler Rogers heading to WBC, other Blue Jays may join
Add one more player to Toronto’s list of participants at the 2025 World Baseball Classic. Tyler Rogers, the submarine reliever who signed a $37 million deal with the Jays this offseason, told The Athletic he was added to the United States’ designated pitcher pool. It means Rogers is eligible to be added to the country’s roster in future rounds, but he has been told he will join the United States team after the preliminary round. It will be Rogers’ first opportunity to pitch for his country at a major international tournament.
Jeff Hoffman was also added to the United States’ pitcher pool and would love to join the roster at some point, he said. José Berríos, dealing with the same insurance issues that’ve sidetracked multiple players’ attempts to play in the tournament, is in Puerto Rico’s pitcher pool. He doesn’t currently have “the green light” to play in the WBC, Berríos said, but still hopes to pitch for Puerto Rico.
Chase Lee and Toronto’s sidearm investment
Hours before the Jays signed Rogers this winter, Toronto traded a prospect to the Detroit Tigers for another funky reliever, Chase Lee. After he was cut from the University of Alabama’s baseball team in his freshman year, Lee lowered his arm slot by watching YouTube videos of Steve Cishek and Darren O’Day. He dominated intramurals as a sidearmer, made the school’s team the next year and became a sixth-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.
When he saw that the Jays signed Rogers just after trading for him, Lee was thrilled. The Jays, he thought, clearly valued funky arm slots like his and different looks out of the bullpen. Manager John Schneider said the Jays think of Lee and Rogers’ ability to limit hard contact as a great compliment to their elite infield defence. With minor-league options, Lee will likely start in Triple-A.
But Lee loved Rogers’ deal for another reason, too, seeing a similarly funky reliever earn a big-money contract. O’Day, despite making an All-Star team and posting three full seasons with an ERA under 2.00, never earned more than $8 million in a season. Cishek, who racked up 133 career saves, never surpassed $7.5 million per year. Rogers, at $12.3 million per season, set a new benchmark.
“It’s cool that it’s being rewarded,” Lee said. “(Rogers) gets so many outs, he could throw with his feet and he should still get rewarded.”