Brendon David Little...Married Emily Little on Jan. 21, 2023...Is one of just seven players from Bryn Mawr, Pa., to appear in a Major League game...Attended State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill...Drafted by the Cubs 27th overall in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft.
2025
Led the AL in appearances (79)...Finished first in the Majors with a 43.5% whiff rate (min. 250 BF), while also posting a 30.8% strikeout rate...Ranked T-5th among AL relievers in strikeouts (91), trailing Bryan Abreu (105), Cade Smith (104), Edwin Uceta (103) and Griffin Jax (97)...His 55.6% whiff rate on his knuckle curve was the highest on any pitch in MLB on the year (min. 500 pitches)...Against his knuckle curve on the year, opponents batted .145 with a .130 xBA, a .185 SLG and a .196 wOBA...Held right-handed hitters to a .197 AVG (25-for-127) with a .252 SLG, and a 29.5% strikeout rate...His 44.2% whiff rate against right-handed batters was the highest mark in MLB (min. 150 BF)...Posted a 59.9% groundball rate on the year, the fourth-highest mark in the AL (min. 250 BF), trailing only Jose Soriano (66%), Tim Hill (64.2%), and Angel Zerpa (63.7%)...Posted the highest whiff rate (46.8%) prior to the All-Star break in the Statcast Era (min. 150 BF), surpassing Josh Hader in 2019 (44.8%)...Did not allow a home run in 43.2 consecutive innings...Led AL relievers (min. 10G) in ERA (0.00) for the month of May...His 59% whiff rate in the month of April was the second-highest (min. 25 BF) in a single month in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), trailing only Edwin Díaz (63.5% in Sept. 2022).
2024
Made a total of 65 appearances between the Majors and Triple-A Buffalo, going 1-4 with a save, a 3.86 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, an 11.8% walk rate, a 22.4% strikeout rate, a 30.5% whiff rate and a 71.3% groundball rate...Opponents posted a groundball rate of 72.3% against him, the highest mark among qualified relievers in MLB...Induced opposing hitters to ground into eight double plays in 32 opportunities this season (25%) best among qualified relievers...28 of his 36 strikeouts on the year came on curveballs (77.8%), second highest among qualified relievers...72% of his strikeouts this season came on pitches located outside of the zone, 4th highest among qualified relievers...Held left-handed hitters to a .202 batting average (17-for-84) with 20 strikeouts and a .518 opponent OPS...His .238 opponent SLG against left-handed hitters was the seventh-lowest among AL relievers...Over his last 33 appearances on the year, posted a 3.14 ERA (10 ER/28.2 IP) with 20 strikeouts, and a .236 opponent batting average...Against his knuckle curve, opponents batted .158 with a .185 xBA, a .211 SLG, a .186 wOBA, a .217 xwOBA and a 43.7% whiff rate...Made his MLB debut on April 26 vs. LAD at Rogers Centre, allowing three earned runs over 1.1 innings...Recorded his first career strikeout after punching out Chris Taylor swinging...Earned his first career MLB win on Aug. 2 at NYY, after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts...Earned his first career MLB save on Aug. 26 at BOS...Threw 1.1 shutout innings...In 16 appearances with AAA Buffalo, posted a 4.15 ERA (8 ER/17.1 IP) with 13BB, 25K, a 1.73 WHIP, and a .262 opponent AVG...Made eight appearances at Spring Training, allowing six ER over eight IP (6.75 ERA) with 10 K and a 1.38 WHIP, holding opposing hitters to a .207 AVG.
2023
Spent the entirety of the season with Triple-A Iowa, going 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA (33 ER/73.1 IP) over 50 appearances (two starts)...The 73.1 frames were the second most of his career, trailing only his 101.1 innings from 2018 as a starter... From July 2nd to the end of the season, posted a 2.50 ERA (11 ER/39.2 IP) over 26 outings (two starts) with 16 walks, 37 strikeouts and a .221 opponent’s average... Over eight appearances in the month of September alone, allowed only one run for a 0.63 ERA (1 ER/14.1 IP) with six hits, four walks and 12 strikeouts...Threw at least 2.0 innings in five of those eight outings.
2022
Brendon made his Major League debut in 2022, appearing in one game on Aug. 30 in Toronto as a replacement player (3 ER/0.2 IP)... Spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Iowa, going 4-5 with a 4.29 ERA (24 ER/50.1 IP) and one save in 36 relief appearances... Did not allow a run in his first seven appearances (9.2 IP) and allowed one run or fewer in his first 10 outings, posting a 1.88 ERA (3 ER/14.1 IP) during the run... Completed at least 2.0 innings in 10 of his 36 outings, including a season-high 2.2 scoreless innings in game two on Aug. 3 vs. Toledo... From July 4-Aug. 23, held the opponent scoreless in 11 of 12 outings, posting a 0.57 ERA (1 ER/15.2 IP) during the run... Earned his lone save of the season, Aug. 5 vs. Toledo (0 ER/1.0 IP)...Was selected as a replacement player for the series in Toronto, Aug. 29-31.
2020
Did not play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019
Made his season debut, June 19, after he recovered from a left back strain … went 2-2 with a 3.58 ERA (22 ER/55.1 IP) in 12 starts between Rookie League Mesa, Single-A South Bend and Single-A Myrtle Beach...In six outings with Myrtle Beach, posted a 1.91 ERA (6 ER/28.1 IP) and held opponents to a .186 average … walked 13 and struck out 25...On the season, limited left-handed batters to a .195 average (8-for-41) with a .268 slugging mark.
2018
Spent the year with Single-A South Bend, going 5-11 with a 5.15 ERA (58 ER/101.1 IP) in 22 games, all but one as a starter … walked 43 and struck out 90...Struck out a season-high nine batters, July 8 at Lansing...Opponents hit .264 (106-for-401) with a .339 OBP.
2017
Made his pro debut with Single-A Eugene, pitching 16.1 innings spanning six starts.
