Blue Jays reliever fans wanted gone is making a case to return

When the Toronto Blue Jays were struggling coming out of the gate for the 2026 MLB season, one of the early season scapegoats fell on the shoulders of reliever Brendon Little. Coming off a 2025 campaign in which things fell apart for him down the stretch, Little had a lot to prove entering this year to maintain his spot on the major league roster with the Blue Jays.

However, after giving up a whopping 10 earned runs on 10 hits with three walks and six strikeouts in just 3.2 innings of work over five appearances, the 29-year-old left-hander quickly found himself down in the minors before the first week of April was even done. Now over two months later, the same reliever who was the lightning rod for the Blue Jays’ early season struggles has now put himself back on the radar with a strong and consistent showing with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons ever since.

According to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, he believes that Little deserves his chance as the Blue Jays “liked what they had seen lately” despite his whirlwind season to date.

“There’s going to come a point in time where you’ve got to see if that stuff (from Little) is going to translate back up here (the majors),” Matheson said.

Has Brendon Little earned himself another shot in the majors with the Blue Jays?

He certainly has a point as Little has slowly but surely turned things around the past couple of months. The 29-year-old reliever has compiled a stellar 5-0 record with a tidy 2.49 ERA, giving up six earned runs with 29 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched over 22 appearances with the Bisons since his demotion back in April.

More impressively, Little has been on a groove, holding the opposition scoreless on two hits with seven strikeouts in his past five outings with Buffalo.

With Joe Mantiply currently on the 60-day IL and Adam Macko being surprisingly sent back down to the minors with the activation of Dylan Cease this week, it leaves Mason Fluharty as the sole lefty out of the Blue Jays bullpen on their big league roster.

So it makes sense to give Little another crack at it with Toronto to see if he has regained some of his form that we had witnessed from the first half of last season. More importantly, it would give the Jays another southpaw in their relief corps, which could be vital for pitching matchups.

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