Sometimes you look at a pitcher’s numbers in the minor leagues and wonder if they can truly carry that over to the majors. I’m far from a baseball scout, but guys like Luke Little make it easy to evaluate whether a pitcher can continue his dominance at the highest level of the sport.

The 6-foot-8 lefty was promoted to the Cubs on Wednesday and Little eventually made his MLB debut, coming in to pitch the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants. There wasn’t much pressure for the 2020 fourth round pick, as the Cubs had a comfortable 8-2 lead, but it looked like Little could handle any situation after his first major league appearance.

Across three levels in the minor leagues this season, Little recorded 105 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. That included 21 strikeouts in 11.2 innings at Triple-A before he was called up to Wrigley Field on Wednesday.

Well, when you feature a high-90s fastball with a nasty sweeping slider, your chances of succeeding in the majors are going to be good. Little was as good as advertised, striking out two batters in the ninth, stranding a runner at first base who reached on a single.

Little threw 14 pitches to close out the Giants, three of them were sweepers. All three were whiffs, including the first two strikeouts of his MLB career.

Little began the season playing with the South Bend Cubs at Advanced A-Ball. He made it up to Double-A and then Iowa. Through it all, Little has shown a big arm and now he has the chance to earn a roster spot on the Cubs in October.

Mark Leiter Jr. has been used as the primary reliever to get lefties out this season and for the most part he’s done a fantastic job of doing that with his nasty splitter. However, if the Cubs want a well-rounded bullpen in the playoffs, then Little will most certainly be looked as a viable option to make the team’s postseason squad.

Jordan Wicks Wins Again

Jordan Wicks made his third MLB start and got credit for his third win the big leagues. The lefty tossed 6.2 innings against the Giants, setting a new career high in innings pitched. That includes his time in the minor leagues as well.

Wicks wasn’t missing as many bats this time around, giving up nine hits, but he limited the damage and kept the ball in the infield. The left-handed starter only struck out one batter, but he recorded 13 outs on the ground and didn’t give up any walks.

Not only is Wicks 3-0 in his first three MLB starts, he still has a perfect record in 2023, after going 7-0 in 20 combined starts between Double-A and Triple-A.

Wicks has posted a 2.16 ERA in his first 16.2 innings with the Cubs.

And how about the Cubs getting the sweep with three homegrown pitchers. And yeah, I’ll include Daniel Palencia as homegrown because the righty had a total of 14.1 innings in Low A-Ball before he was dealt to the Cubs in 2021 by the Oakland A’s in the Andrew Chafin trade.

Wicks, first-round pick in 2021. Palencia, came into the system as a 21-year-old in 2021 and Little was picked in the fourth round of the 2020 draft.