Blue Jays fans clearly have an early-season scapegoat who might need a break

The Toronto Blue Jays need to have a tough conversation about relief pitcher Brendon Little. He's only had two appearances this year, but if we look back at his past four games, including the playoffs last year, it's been ugly.

Toronto Blue Jays may need to relieve Brendon Little one way or the other

During the playoffs last year, we all remember what happened in the 18 inning game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Little allowed a home-run to Freddie Freeman which cost them the game. Kudos to Jon Schneider for waiting 18 innings to put Little in, but every Blue Jays fan in the world knew there was a chance that could happen when he came into pitch.

His prior outing came in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Seattle Mariners where Little allowed a grand slam in the eighth inning, costing the Blue Jays that game. After a brutal two games in the playoffs last year, it felt like four months off and a full reset could have helped Little to get back on track, but unfortunately his first two games have somehow gone worse.

In Saturday's game against the Athletics, Little allowed another grand slam which put the Blue Jays down 6-2. The team was able to rally and win the ball game in 11 innings, but Little's performance was abysmal.

The same thing essentially happened on Monday night when Little came in during the sixth inning. The Blue Jays were down 2-1, in a fine position to come back and win the game, but Little's uninspiring performance continued . In 0.2 innings pitched he allowed four hits and four earned runs, while walking one. You could feel the energy of the crowd fall when Little came into pitch, as the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) got more cheers than he did.

This is a very tough position to be in because relief pitchers go in waves throughout the season, but the fact that his last four apperances have been this bad is worrisome. The Blue Jays cannot afford to put Little on the mound right now during a close game. As shown by these last few games, when he's pitching, terrible things happen.

It's probably too early for the team to option Little to Triple-A, or look to trade for another relief pitcher, but as the team's starting pitchers continue to get hurt the Blue Jays are going to need more reliable options in the bullpen, and Little isn't that right now