Jack Little’s long road finally reached the majors this season, though his time with the Dodgers was brief, at least in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers drafted Little out of Stanford in the fifth round in 2019, and like many prospects had nowhere to play in 2020 with no minor league season that year. Then came Tommy John surgery, which wiped out all of 2022 and a large chunk of 2023.
Little worked his way up the ladder, reaching Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2024, and had a 2.20 ERA and 24.3-percent strikeout rate with 10 saves when he got his first call to the big leagues on June 19.
This was a weird time of the season for the Dodgers, who did not play the division-rival Padres or Giants until mid-June, and had seven games in 11 days against San Diego during this stretch. The last of those seven Dodgers-Padres tilts was June 19, Little’s major league debut, and he stepped into a firestorm.
Each team was hit by four pitches in the first six Dodgers-Padres games, and Lou Trivino hit Bryce Johnson with a pitch in the seventh inning on June 19 at Dodger Stadium. The Padres were up 3-0 when Little entered in the eighth, and he gave up two more runs. Little mopped up the ninth as well, but then hit Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch in the final frame, the third time Tatis was hit by a Dodgers pitch in the previous week and a half.
That set off Padres manager Mike Shildt, which in turn activated Dave Roberts, whose anger bottles up and gets an occasional release every once in a while against a Padres manager. This time, Roberts and Shildt amid the kerfuffle were trying to get at each other, and both were suspended for a game. Robert Suárez hit Shohei Ohtani in the ninth inning and was later suspended for that, but Ohtani himself squashed any repeat of the benches clearing.
Little after pitching two innings was optioned the next day for a fresh arm, and made one more trek to Los Angeles a few weeks later. Both times Little was called up, he pitched that day and was optioned the next. His total time on the 40-man roster was 46 days, as he was designated for assignment on August 4.
The Pirates claimed Little off waivers on August 6, and he pitched the rest of the season in Triple-A Indianapolis.
2025 particulars
Age: 27
Stats: 2 games, 3 innings, 2 runs, 2 strikeouts
Salary: $8,172 (pro-rated share of $760,000 minimum for his two days in the majors)
Game of the year
In his second and final game with the Dodgers, Little retired all three batters he faced on July 5 against the Houston Astros, including a strikeout of Jake Meyers on three pitches.
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Roster status
Little was claimed off waivers from the Pirates by the Tigers on November 6, but was designated for assignment on November 18. He’s now a free agent.
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