What happened to Brendon Little? Know all about why Blue Jays pitcher left the Orioles game 

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brendon Little was removed from their home game against the Baltimore Orioles in the eighth inning on Friday with an apparent injury. As per MLB insider Keegan Matheson, Blue Jays manager John Schneider revealed that the left-handed reliever was taken off the mound due to "left lat cramp," which was throwing him "out of sync."

On Friday, the southpaw came out of the bullpen to take the mound at Rogers Centre for his first appearance of the season. At the time, the Blue Jays had an 8-2 lead over the visiting Orioles in the eighth inning.

Brendon Little had secured the first two outs of the inning when he tweaked something in his body after throwing a 0-1 strike to Colton Cowser. Skipper Schneider and trainer Jose Ministral came out onto the field to take a look at the pitcher before deciding to pull him out of the game.

Right-hander Nick Sandlin was the replacement on the mound and got the final out of the inning on just two pitches. The Orioles could not add any more runs as the Blue Jays held out for a comfortable win to level the series after getting hammered on Opening Day, 12-2.

Injury concern for Brendon Little adds further strain on Blue Jays' bullpen

The Blue Jays have put Brendon Little up for further medical review (Image Source: IMAGN)

The injury to Brendon Little puts the Toronto Blue Jays' pitching staff in a spot of bother, at least for the next couple of weeks. They had already been forced to start without Erik Swanson and Ryan Burr in their bullpen, with both pitchers currently placed on the 15-day IL.

Little was initially picked up by the Chicago Cubs as a starting pitcher in the first round of the 2017 MLB draft. He was converted to a reliever by the time he made the Cubs roster, but he only had one appearance for the team before being sent back to the minors.

The Blue Jays traded for Little at the start of the 2024 campaign, and he played seven games for them last season. He pitched 45.2 innings for the team and posted a 3.74 ERA with 36 strikeouts.

The Blue Jays and Orioles will play in Game 3 of their four-game series at Rogers Centre on Saturday.