The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers will kick off the 2025 MLB regular season this year in Toyko on March 18. With their seasons starting not only internationally, but more than a week before everyone else, some unique rules exist. One of these rules may ultimately significantly benefit the organization as well as the player.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Luke Little is healthy, but questionable for the Toyko Series
24 year old southpaw Luke Little is by all means healthy and recovered from a season ending LAT strain sustained last year, but he has not yet appeared in a spring training game. Per Craig Counsell, this has been intentional as he told All Chicago “We thought it was important that he put a solid foundation underneath him. So we’ve gone slow with the buildup, and we’re in a good place, and he’s ready to kind of get going now.”
Luke Little has looked good during live batting practice
On the backfields, Little has been facing live hitters. On the first day of March, his fastball reportedly sat 95-96 MPH. This is on par with his velocity from a season ago.
While it may not be much longer before Little sees live game action, one thing to keep in mind is how his body responds to early season baseball. Per pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, “What we’ve learned with Luke over the years is that sometimes he might need an extra day of recovery on the front end that some other guys might not need.”
Luke Little threw a live inning at the backfields this morning, including this very short Matt Shaw at bat: pic.twitter.com/45IfCxiHsz
— Jared Wyllys (@jwyllys) March 1, 2025
A unique rule may significantly benefit the Cubs and Little
When the Cubs head to Toyko, normal 26-man active roster rules apply for the two MLB games they are playing. However, they will be allowed to bring five players as a part of a taxi squad. Those players will be eligible to play in the exhibition games.
The players on the taxi squad are in a unique situation, as a rule specific to international series states that Chicago wouldn’t need to place someone like Little on the injured list to start the season or use a minor league option, even if he’s not expected to play against the Dodgers. This rule is designed to protect teams from having to place a player on the injured list prematurely, but it doubles down in preserving a player’s minor league options.
It will be interesting to see how the Cubs handle Little’s March workload going forward, but ultimately it would not be surprising to see him as a member of the taxi squad in Toyko.
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