Royals Claim Luke Little

The Royals announced that they have claimed left-hander Luke Little off waivers from the Cubs and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. Chicago designated him for assignment three days ago. To open a 40-man spot, the Kansas City transferred righty Luinder Avila to the 60-day injured list. The team announced yesterday that Avila will need Tommy John surgery, so he’ll miss the remainder of the current season and possibly all of 2027 as well.

Little will turn 26 later this month. He’s in his final minor league option season and has had shown flashes of being a quality reliever but lacked the consistency and command to cement himself in the Chicago bullpen. The towering 6’8″ southpaw has pitched 36 1/3 major league innings with a terrific 2.97 ERA but some more alarming under-the-hood numbers. Little has fanned 28.3% of his opponents in the majors and induced grounders at a massive 68.4% clip. He’s also walked 28 of the 159 batters he’s faced (17.6%) and plunked another five (3.1%).

The appeal of a 6’8″ lefty who sits 95.7 mph on his heater and has shown top-of-the-scale ground-ball numbers is obvious. However, Little has allowed nearly 21% of his major league opponents to reach base without even putting a ball in play and tossed four wild pitches. His stuff is clearly plus, but his command is probably a 30 or so on the 20-80 scale.

Little’s work in the upper minors this season hasn’t been markedly better. He’s sporting a 5.03 ERA in 39 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A. His strikeout rate is “only” 23.3% (better than average but down from his typical levels), while his walk rate is up to 18%. Even more problematically, he’s also hit a whopping 10 of the 189 batters he’s faced (5.3%).

Kansas City can spend the rest of the 2026 season working with Little to see if their staff can improve his command. Little’s stuff is so good that he doesn’t even need average command to get by, but he’s currently a ways from what scouts would even call below-average command. The Royals’ bullpen has been an issue all season, however, so there’s ample opportunity for him to earn a spot. Kansas City relievers rank 29th in the majors with a 5.35 ERA, 29th with a 19.1% strikeout rate and 27th in average fastball velocity. Little isn’t going to do their 27th-ranked walk rate (11.2%) any favors, but he brings the sort of velocity and swing-and-miss the Royals have been lacking.