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Jack Little

Pirates Claim Jack Little

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The Pirates announced that they have claimed right-hander Jack Little off waivers from the Dodgers and assigned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. The Dodgers designated him for assignment two days ago. The Pirates had a couple of vacancies on their 40-man roster, with this move bumping their count to 39.

Little, 27, was called up to the big leagues for the first time less than two months ago. The Dodgers selected him to their 40-man on June 19th. Since then, he’s largely been on optional assignment. His big league track record consists of just three innings over two appearances. In those, Little allowed two earned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two. He averaged 94 miles per hour on his fastball while also throwing a splitter and a slider.

Presumably, the Bucs are more interested in his larger sample of work as a minor leaguer. He was first promoted to the Triple-A level in June of last year. Since then, he has logged 79 innings for Oklahoma City with a 4.67 earned run average. It’s perhaps important to note that the Comets play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. While the 4.67 ERA may not be especially impressive, his 23.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rates are pretty close to typical big league averages.

Little still has a full slate of options and just a handful of service days, meaning he could be a cheap depth piece for the foreseeable future, if he can hang onto his roster spot. The Bucs had some open spots on that roster, so they can get a free look at him for now and see how things go in Indianapolis. They traded David Bednar and Caleb Ferguson ahead of the deadline, putting a dent in their bullpen depth, so Little backfills a bit of that.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin, Oncea-Imagn Images

Dodgers Claim Luken Baker, Designate Jack Little

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The Dodgers announced they’ve claimed first baseman Luken Baker off waivers from the Cardinals. According to the MLB.com transaction log, he’s been optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles designated reliever Jack Little for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot. St. Louis had not previously announced that Baker was dropped from the 40-man roster but evidently tried to run him through waivers.

It’s a bit surprising that the Cards went that route. They had four open spots on the 40-man roster, so it’s not as if they were pressed for space. (Their count remains at 36 after they claimed lefty reliever Anthony Veneziano from Miami.) They nevertheless decided to move on from Baker, a 28-year-old first baseman who is in his fifth Triple-A season.

A former second-round pick out of TCU, Baker ranked toward the back of the Cards’ top 30 prospects for a few seasons on the strength of his raw power. He has connected on 136 home runs in his minor league career, 96 of which have come at the Triple-A level. Baker owns a .249/.344/.507 batting line in more than 1600 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s down to a meager .196/.309/.397 slash in 65 games this year, so the Cards determined he wasn’t getting another MLB opportunity. Baker has had sporadic big league appearances, hitting .206 with four homers in just under 200 plate appearances between 2023-25.

Before this claim, the Dodgers did not have a single healthy position player who was on optional assignment. Baker at least provides a healthy bat whom they can call upon if necessary without making a future 40-man roster transaction. He’s in his last minor league option year.

Little, 27, is a 6’4″ righty who made his big league debut last month. He has had two very brief stints on the MLB roster, combining to toss three innings of two-run ball. The Stanford product owns a 4.64 ERA with slightly worse than average strikeout (21.1%) and walk (10.3%) rates across 36 appearances with OKC. Little had gotten out to a strong start to the Triple-A campaign, but he has surrendered 17 earned runs in 19 innings dating back to the beginning of June. The Dodgers will put him on waivers this week.

Dodgers Select Jack Little

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The Dodgers announced they’ve selected reliever Jack Little onto the MLB roster. They optioned Emmet Sheehan to Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move. Tony Gonsolin was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register first observed that Little was in the clubhouse, while Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic noted that Sheehan was heading out.

Little gets his first big league call after five-plus seasons in the minor leagues. The 6’4″ righty has been a pure reliever dating back to his college days at Stanford. The Dodgers drafted him in the fifth round in 2019. Little has never been a high-end prospect but has posted solid numbers in the upper minors. He combined for a 3.79 ERA over 57 innings between the top two levels a year ago.

The 27-year-old Little has spent all of this year in OKC, allowing only 2.20 earned runs per nine across 32 2/3 frames. He’s 10-11 in save chances and has fanned a slightly above-average 24.3% of batters faced. He averages 94 MPH on his fastball while mixing in a slider and changeup. Little is an extreme fly-ball pitcher, but he’s done well at avoiding home runs in the minors. He has the sixth-lowest ERA among the 84 pitchers with 30+ innings in the Pacific Coast League this year.

Sheehan heads to OKC one day after being activated from the 60-day IL following Tommy John rehab. He pitched pretty well in his return last night, striking out six while working four innings of one-run ball against San Diego. The Dodgers evidently preferred a fresh arm in their bullpen rather than keeping Sheehan in the rotation in the short term. He’ll need to spend at least 15 days in the minor leagues unless he’s recalled to replace a pitcher going on the injured list.

Gonsolin’s move to the 60-day IL is even more notable. He went on the shelf on June 7 with elbow discomfort. The Dodgers announced that initial imaging didn’t reveal any UCL damage. While they haven’t provided any indication that has changed, they’ve already ruled him out for at least two months. Gonsolin has made seven starts this season in his return from an August ’23 Tommy John surgery. The 60-day clock backdates to his initial IL placement, but that still rules him out into the first week of August at the earliest.

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