Brendon Little's Minor League Grind

It's April 18th, Toronto Blue Jays News.

Today starts now, AI-powered and game-ready.

I'm Cory with the story.

Brendan Little, the Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher

from their AL champs run, is grinding it out in the minors now.

He got demoted to triple A Buffalo

after a brutal start in the majors with an ERA over 24.

Friday night, he was pitching in Rochester

during a seven-inning double-header,

but had to chill while a bunch of elementary kids

belted out, God bless.

America in the fifth inning stretch.

Earlier this week, Little's MLB season kicked off rough,

leading straight to that farm team drop.

Geographically close to Toronto, but man,

it feels like a whole different universe in baseball terms.

He cracked a smile waiting on the field,

probably just rolling with the punches at this point.

Fans and scouts see the distance he's come,

but the human side hits hard going from big league lights

to minor league quirks, shows the grind of pro.

His background as a key arm makes this dip sting more,

impacting his path back to the show

and testing his mental game.

Down on the farm, stats look clean, no runs allowed yet,

straight zero ERA.

But up close, he's bouncing breaking balls

in warm-ups and games, struggling to finish hitters

after popping fastballs that zip past triple A bats.

He's tweaking that release to sync up his spin,

and while it's fixable, Little and quite MLB ready.

Keep an eye, he's building back step by step.