UPDATE: We already knew half of the Cubs roster moves (specifically, who was coming up) earlier today. And all of that information is still down below. But now we have clarity on the other half (who is on their way out), which we’ll cover here.
According to Taylor McGregor, Charlie Barnes is being optioned back to Triple-A and Ethan Roberts (some sort of cut on his finger) is being sent to the IL.
In their place, Luke Little and Ryan Rolison are being called up.
#Cubs Roster Moves:-Charlie Barnes optioned to Triple-A.-Ethan Roberts placed on the 15-day IL with a right middle finger laceration.-Luke Little recalled from Triple-A.-Ryan Rolison recalled from Triple-A.
— Taylor McGregor (@Taylor_McGregor) April 14, 2026Tough break for Barnes, who just finally made it back to the big leagues. But he threw 60+ pitches last night, so he was toast for a few days anyway. As for Ethan Roberts … no idea what happened there. Clearly, he cut his finger on something. Hopefully, not too bad. Either way, he’s out of Chicago for 15 days.
***Original Post follows***
As I wondered this morning, the Chicago Cubs will indeed bring up a little more bullpen reinforcement for tonight’s game.
Per Tommy Birch, it’s big lefty Luke Little coming up:
The Cubs are calling up @IowaCubs LHP Luke Little from Triple-A. Little has pitched parts of the previous three seasons in Chicago.
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) April 14, 2026Little, 25, was looking like a breakout reliever for the Cubs in 2024, but injuries and command issues derailed his brief big league time in 2025, and he’s otherwise been trying to get right at Triple-A Iowa. In 2026, he’s struck out 9 over his 7.2 innings of work, but walked 10. His last outing, 1.2 innings on April 11, was his only walk-less appearance of the year, though, so maybe he’s locking it in. Sometimes that’s all you’re looking for with a young reliever who has great stuff: get on a heater with the ability to throw strikes, and then ride it out.
So much of Little’s peak ability is tied to the very things that make that command so tricky, though. He is enormous, creating tough angles for hitters. He has a good bit of funk and a ton of extension in his delivery. He sometimes pitches with good velocity and nasty stuff. But, baked into all of that, you can have a guy with complex mechanics and a body that struggles to repeat them consistently. Hence the bouts of wildness – in the minor leagues, particularly below Double-A, hitters will bail you out if you’re nasty enough. But with more experienced, patient, well-informed hitters, you simply have to be able to throw strikes. When Little does, he succeeds. When he doesn’t, he fails.
I tend to think there’s probably a lot of daylight between Luke Little and a late-inning role for Craig Counsell, so this is just a matter of getting a little extra depth into the big league pen, and then perhaps a chance that Little locks it in like he did in 2024. We know that potential is in there, and if he shows it over a number of middle-innings-type appearances, maybe that trust could grow.
As for whose spot Little is taking, there’s always the chance of an injury, but I suspect he’s just tagging out fellow lefty, Charlie Barnes. Since Barnes threw 62 pitches last night, he was going to be unavailable for a while anyway.
UPDATE: Tommy Birch reports that fellow lefty Ryan Rolison is coming up tonight, too, for the Cubs. Which means, in addition to Barnes likely being optioned … someone must be hurt. Riley Martin is starting tonight, and the only other realistically optionable pitcher is Ethan Roberts. But he’s rested, so I don’t see a reason to swap him out. That means someone is going on the Injured List. Another pitcher injury for the Cubs. This has reached ridiculous levels.
As for Rolison, 28, he is also a guy who has nasty stuff and also serious command troubles. Like Little, there’s obvious big league talent there in terms of the stuff, but he needs to get locked in throwing strikes. He wasn’t quite there at Iowa yet, but clearly the Cubs are in dire straights with their pitching. On April 14.
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