The Chicago Cubs will enter the season with a fairly new bullpen.

After losing Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz, and Andrew Kittredge this offseason, the Cubs had to get to work to revamp their bullpen. So, they went out and signed Phil Maton, Hoby Milner, Jacob Webb, and Hunter Harvey in free agency.

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Those additions make this Cubs bullpen almost complete for the 2026 season. Maton, Milner, Webb, Harvey, Caleb Thielbar, Colin Rea, and Daniel Palencia are surely all locks to make the Opening Day roster.

However, there is still one more bullpen spot possibly up for grabs.

If the Cubs plan to go with an eight-man bullpen to begin the season, there are a few players who could earn that final spot. Ben Brown, Porter Hodge, Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad, Luke Little, and Trent Thornton could all be fighting for that final roster spot.

Of those names listed, Little is an interesting case entering the 2026 season.

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He hasn’t really seen many opportunities in the big leagues since the Cubs selected him in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft. But he has shown some potential in the Majors when he has gotten the opportunity.

Little didn’t allow a run across 6 ⅔ innings pitched in 2023, finished with a 3.46 ERA across 30 appearances in 2024, and had a 3.38 ERA in two games last year. Overall, he has given up only 11 earned runs across 35 ⅓ innings (2.80 ERA) in his Major League career.

The southpaw is also coming off a fantastic season down in Triple-A. He posted a 2.87 ERA, a 1.173 WHIP, and 75 strikeouts across 59 ⅔ innings pitched. For most of the year, Little had a sub-1.90 ERA in the Minors.

That brings up the question of whether the Cubs should give Little a chance to begin the year.

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It really comes down to how Little looks throughout the spring. He’ll need to prove his potential and show that he has what it takes to make the team’s Opening Day roster.

The key for him will be to limit the walks. That has been a big problem for Little throughout his professional career and is a large reason why he has spent most of his time in Triple-A over the last two seasons.

The 25-year-old had a whopping 13.5% walk rate at Triple-A last year and issued six walks across 2 ⅔ innings pitched with the Cubs. Little simply has to have far better control on the mound if he wants to see more chances in the big leagues.

Outside of the high walk rate, Little has shown some nice things in both the Majors and Minors over the past two seasons. His fastball/sweeper combination has kept hitters off balance, which resulted in a 29.8% strikeout rate in Triple-A in 2025.

So, Little has the tools to make an impact in Chicago’s bullpen this year. It all depends on how he performs in the spring and whether he can keep his walk rate down.