Cubs rookie reliever Luke Little is built like a truck and sits in the mid-to-high 90s from the left side.

The key to his career might be a big, slow, horizontally sweeping slider.

“Obviously I come from way out to the left,” Little said, miming out his low three-quarters left-handed arm slot. “So I am able to backdoor sliders a lot more to righties and I’m able to get more deception to lefties. I can throw it off the plate and I can get more chases because it’s coming right [middle]. It looks like it’s going to be down the middle of the plate, but it’s going to bite.” 

When Little was a fourth-round draft pick in 2020, he touted a breaking ball he describes as a slurve with more depth. But last season at High-A South Bend, Cubs pitching coordinator Tony Cougole showed Little the grip for a sweeper, which got him off and running.

If you count his scoreless major league debut alongside stops at three minor league levels, Little’s 107 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings this year are enough to earn some attention. That he hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit to a left-handed hitter all season suggests a possible future role even in a Cubs bullpen with an established hierarchy.

But with 42 walks, control has historically been the red flag in the hulking 23-year-old’s profile. The growth in his feel and command, which Little feels has blossomed throughout the year, is a way to deal with it while staying competitive.

“I think it’s my best command pitch and I think I command it more than my fastball,” Little said. “If I’m not feeling my fastball, if I throw two bad fastballs, then I’ll throw the slider to get back in the zone. A lot of people think when they’re behind in the count they have to nibble with fastballs. I feel comfortable that I can throw a slider in a 3-0 count.”

With the wildness Little has dealt with at times, having a path out of it beyond get-me-over fastballs is important. After a spotless, two-strikeout debut on Wednesday, he also has some faith it works at this level.

“When you go from striking out minor leaguers to striking out Paul DeJong and J.D. Davis on it, it honestly makes you feel a lot better about the pitch,” Little said.

Steele’s wizardry

Per Statcast, Cubs ace Justin Steele has thrown six pitches 95 mph or faster all season.

None of them came Saturday at Wrigley Field, as Steele regained control of the National League lead in ERA (2.49) with seven innings of one-run ball, striking out six and walking one.

“Velocity is extremely important,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “But the way it moves, how deceptive you are and the way you’re able to make the ball move in different way is ultimately what pitching is all about. He’s a testament to that.”

Per usual, Steele dominated with a pitch mix almost entirely composed of sliders and fastballs. But as Hottovy explains, even the data on the average movement of Steele’s heaters undersells them, because of his ability to vary the cut and ride on each pitch as needed.

Greene sticks around

Two days after being designated for assignment by the Cubs, veteran right-hander Shane Green accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Iowa.