This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- One of the coaches at Triple-A Iowa found Luke Little in the clubhouse earlier this week and gave the pitcher a tap on the shoulder. He was informed that manager Marty Pevey needed to have a word in his office.

“I was kind of scared,” Little said. “I didn’t know if I was in trouble or something.”

The Sept. 1 roster expansion date had come and gone, but the Cubs planned all along on utilizing that extra spot multiple times this month. In this case, it was Little’s turn to get the call to The Show, completing this season’s climb from High-A South Bend to the Major League bullpen.

When the 23-year-old Little (a fourth-round pick in the 2020 Draft) was in the South Bend rotation to start the season, he felt reaching Double-A Tennessee by the end of the year was a solid goal. That mentality shifted when the Cubs opted to move the 6-foot-8 lefty with the power fastball and biting slider into a relief role by May.

“It was like, ‘OK, maybe they're really pushing me to get to the big leagues,” said Little, who is ranked No. 25 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects list for the Cubs.

After making four starts to begin his season, Little transitioned to the bullpen and turned in a 2.63 ERA with 87 strikeouts against 35 walks in 48 innings. That included 11 2/3 innings in his recent stay with Triple-A Iowa, where he had a 1.54 ERA to go along with 21 strikeouts and seven walks.

“I think the move to the bullpen has helped,” Cubs vice president of player development Jared Banner said recently. “In addition, he’s focused a lot more on building his athleticism in the weight room, as well as with his nutrition. So, he’s taken some major steps forward from a maturity standpoint and just becoming a professional. And it’s showing.”

With the Cubs holding an 8-2 lead over the Giants in the ninth inning on Wednesday, manager David Ross found the kind of “soft landing” he likes to give rookies for their initial taste of the Majors. With a host of friends and family, including his parents, sitting in the stands, Little struck out J.D. Davis with a low-and-in sweeper to start his career.

Little reached 98 mph with his four-seamer and generated three whiffs on the three swings he enticed with his sweeping slider. That included his final pitch -- a sweeper to Paul DeJong -- that netted another punchout and set off the singing of “Go, Cubs, Go” at the Friendly Confines.

“It means everything,” Little said of getting called up. “Being in high school, thinking I wasn't gonna get anywhere other than college, to getting to college and thinking I had a chance to play pro ball, to not just playing pro ball, but playing in the Major Leagues. It means everything.”