Chad Dallas gets no chance to prove himself as Blue Jays bring back controversial reliever

Chad Dallas was never going to get a ton of playing time in Toronto, but one would have thought that, as the injury replacement for Max Scherzer, the rookie right-hander would be given a look or two out of the bullpen.

After all, he did impress in his MLB debut earlier this month, holding a potent Atlanta Braves lineup to just one run over 3.2 innings. He's also recorded a 4.23 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 38.1 innings in Triple-A Buffalo, a rather promising indication that he's ready for the big leagues.

Alas, his time back in Toronto appears to have been merely procedural. The Blue Jays have sent him back down to Triple-A in order to make room for... Brendon Little.

Little, of course, was an unmitigated disaster in his brief stint with the Blue Jays earlier this year. Having been in the minor leagues for the past two months, is the veteran southpaw ready to right his past wrongs?

Blue Jays make big bet on Brendon Little's talent, despite his serious command issues

It's hard to overstate how bad Little was prior to being sent down. He made the Opening Day roster after emerging as a true stalwart last year (3.03 ERA, 2.92 FIP over a whopping 79 appearances), and six scoreless innings in spring training solidified his place as one of John Schneider's most trusted high-leverage weapons.

The moment the regular season came, though, the script flipped. Little was obliterated over his five innings, giving up 11 runs (10 earned), three homers, and four walks in just 3.2 innings. Small sample though it may be, the 29-year-old's pitching line looked like this prior to being sent down: 24.55 ERA, 12.91 FIP, -0.5 fWAR.

That's just preposterously awful, hence why the organization gave him a few months to sort things out in Buffalo. And while on the surface it looks like he did -- he recorded a 2.31 ERA and 3.92 FIP in 24 appearances -- there are other concerns about his game that remain fatal flaws.

Little walked 19 batters in 23.1 innings in Triple-A, yielding an 18.8% walk rate. For reference, the highest walk rate among qualified pitchers pitchers this year is 11.7%, held by Kyle Bradish. He's been able to work around those free passes to post a 4.00 ERA, but there's still a difference of seven percentage points of where he's at and where Little was in the minors.

Despite those command issues, his return to Toronto isn't terribly surprising; an injury to Joe Mantiply put Mason Fluharty in the uncomfortable position as the lone southpaw in the bullpen, and Little's tremendous success from 2025 isn't that far in the rearview mirror. Trusting him to sort out his control (or lack thereof) in the majors may lead to some more trouble, but you can't blame a desperate team for trying to recapture lightning in a bottle.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow