If it were a series of injuries, then it would be more palatable to take in the downfall of Chicago Cubs pitcher Luke Little. We’re talking about a guy who had the most imposing presence on the mound in years for the Cubs. A guy, who at 6-foot-8, throwing in the upper 90s from the left side, had all the makings of a dominant reliever, if not the next Cubs closer for a decade. Instead, the 25-year-old, who did pitch in the big leagues in 2026, has been demoted to Double-A.

Little was taken in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft, and by the 2023 season, the Cubs made the decision to transition the left-handed pitcher into a bullpen arm. He was dominant in the minor leagues, ultimately earning a big-league promotion in September after recording a 2.12 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 63.2 innings across three levels in Chicago’s farm system.

The hard-throwing lefty secured an Opening Day roster spot in 2024, and for most of the year, it appeared as though Little had arrived as a legit, big-league reliever. He was optioned at the end of April, following a blowup against the Boston Red Sox in which Little gave up five runs while only getting two outs. He returned a few weeks later, and from May 15 through July 12, the rookie posted a 1.59 ERA with a 29.4 K% rate in 17 innings of work.

The walks were still an issue, but Little was effective. That was until a shoulder strain against the St. Louis Cardinals a few days before the All-Star break ended his 2024 season. Little was limited in 2025, as he recovered from the shoulder injury, but it seemed like the pitcher was back to good health in 2026.

Unfortunately, it seems like the Cubs may be close to the end with Little. He has one minor league option year remaining, which means if the Cubs want to retain him, then he must be on the active roster in 2027. he was recently demoted to Double-A, and this could either be the organization kicking him out of their future plans completely, or potentially giving Little one last lifeline with specialized coaching.

Prior to Sunday’s scoreless inning, Little had a 5.70 ERA in 23.2 innings with the Iowa Cubs. In 17 appearances, Little struck out 25 batters, but he also walked 23, hit six more, and unleashed three wild pitches.

Little was briefly called up by the Cubs back in April, when the team was derailed by pitching injuries. He didn’t last long, going back to Triple-A after one outing in an 11-2 win by the Cubs.

The Cubs have not consistently gotten value from their pitching draft picks, which has put the organization at a disadvantage in the pitching department for years. This could be yet another failure with Luke Little, who may not have much more time in the Cubs’ organization if he can’t figure things out quickly.

I’m not saying that more Chicago Cubs deserve higher vote totals for the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, but it is very noticeable how much the fan base is either painfully apathetic toward the team or flat-out pissed off. A pair of 10-game winning streaks was followed by a dreadful month of baseball by the Cubs that seemingly killed off any enthusiasm because no one on the team is remotely close to being nominated to this year’s midsummer classic via fan vote.

The first All-Star ballot update was released on Monday, and one thing stood out for the Cubs: no one is voting for any of them. Again, to be fair, almost the entire roster has been disappointing in 2026, but you would have thought that, as one of the larger fan bases, a few guys would be higher up in the vote totals, deserved or not. Nope, not right now, as the vibes have been brutal since the middle of May.

No Cubs player cracked the top five in the six main position groups, as Carson Kelly ranked the highest, getting nearly 110,000 votes, the sixth most at catcher. Alex Bregman, who is still beloved by Houston Astros fans, somehow got the third-highest vote total among any Cubs player, trailing a couple of Cubs outfielders, including Seiya Suzuki, who obviously gets a boost of support from his fans in Japan.

However, there was nothing more shocking than Pete Crow-Armstrong coming in at 14th among all National League outfielders in the first round of fan voting.

Cubs in MLB All-Star Game Ballot (First Update)
Carson Kelly: 109,628 votes (6th in Catchers)
Michael Busch: 87,031 votes (8th in 1B)
Nico Hoerner: 119,041 votes (10th in 2B)
Alex Bregman: 145,500 votes (7th in 3B)
Dansby Swanson: 124,372 votes (7th in SS)
Moises Ballesteros: 64,070 votes (7th in DH)
Pete Crow-Armstrong: 265,408 votes (14th in OF)
Seiya Suzuki: 239,224 votes (16th in OF)

I’m tired of doing the Ian Happ fight, and that’s why I am not surprised that he couldn’t even get into the top-20 vote-getters in the outfield. Cubs fans loathe Happ, so I’ve simply accepted the fact that, of course, he isn’t going to win any popularity contests. By the way, Happ not only leads all National League left fielders with 16 home runs, but that’s also No. 1 among all MLB left fielders.

As for Crow-Armstrong, he is unfortunately fighting an uphill battle with his online perception. In today’s world of social media, a larger portion of fans consume sports through short, viral clips, which means any time the Cubs center fielder has a bad moment, it is amplified online, resulting in fans thinking he’s an overrated player.

In reality, Crow-Armstrong continues to be the best defensive center fielder in MLB, while also becoming a very good hitter since the middle of April.

The early-season struggles, which were admittedly very bad, created a narrative that Crow-Armstrong had a fluke 2025 season at the plate. Yet, he’s actually transformed his hitting profile in 2026, which projects to a more sustainable success. The counting numbers right now aren’t too sexy, but still, Crow-Armstrong has a 3.5 fWAR, which ranks first among position players in the National League.

So, if there is one guy who does actually deserve All-Star votes, it is Pete Crow-Armstrong. C’mon, Cubs fans, let’s give our guy a little more support. Vote here!

The Chicago Cubs have made another minor trade as Jed Hoyer continued a trend by acquiring right-handed pitcher Yosver Zulueta. The 28-year-old was in at Triple-A for the Seattle Mariners, who recently designated Zulueta for assignment. The Cubs jumped on the opportunity to pick up the former notable prospect, sending cash for the relief pitcher.

Cubs fans have been annoyed by the type of reliever the Cubs have targeted in recent years, and that frustration has been even more pronounced in 2026 with Phil Maton’s performance. While most of MLB has aggressively leaned on high velocity to overwhelm hitters late in games, the Cubs have not made hard-throwing pitchers a main priority.

Yet, during the season, Jed Hoyer does seem to have a type, and Zulueta fits the profile. A pitcher with a big arm, the ability to get a lot of strikeouts, but with severe control issues.

In 2024, Zulueta made his MLB debut with the Cincinnati Reds. The righty made 12 appearances, striking out 20 batters in 16.1 innings, a 29.0 K%. He didn’t really put up good results, recording a 4.96 ERA in his first look in the majors. Zulueta only got seven opportunities with the Reds in 2025. Still, he had good numbers at Triple-A, ending last year with a 3.28 ERA and a 31.2 K% in 60.1 innings with Louisville.

However, Zulueta was let go in January and was then traded to the Mariners in a small deal leading up to spring training. The right-hander had a decent spring, but he was assigned to Triple-A to begin the regular season. Zulueta wasn’t particularly good, posting a 5.75 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 16 walks in 20.1 innings. His last 10 games produced most of the damage, as Zulueta allowed 10 of his 13 earned runs in 10.2 innings, walking nine in that span.

But Zulueta throws hard, consistently hitting the upper 90s, but he’s had injury trouble in his past, and he walks too many guys to stick around in the majors. Maybe the Cubs can tweak something? That’s ultimately the low-risk gamble the front office is making when executing these moves.

Zulueta first broke into pro ball, signing out of Cuba in 2019 with the Toronto Blue Jays. The righty was ranked as high as No. 3 in Toronto’s farm system following the 2022 season, but he hasn’t been able to keep up the momentum since.

So far in 2026, the Cubs have brought in pitchers Antoine Kelly, Christian Roa, Ty Blach, Paul Campbell, Tyler Ferguson, Luis Peralta, and Liam Hendriks, either as minor league free agents, waiver claims, or small trades.

It really only takes one to hit to call it a success for the 2026 Cubs, so hopefully one of these guys does break through and can contribute for at least a couple of months. As frustrating as the team has been, the playoffs are very much in reach this year. Even after a 7-22 stretch, the Cubs remain above .500 and begin this week’s home stand one game back of a Wild Card spot.

They’ll need more arms to help as the regular season progresses. The majority of contending teams will always have a handful of surprises, so hopefully Zulueta, or any of the other similar pitching acquisitions for the Cubs, does indeed become a positive story this year.