With Brown pitching like an ace, the Cubs are being extra cautious

Posted June 14, 2026 1:30 pm

By Patrick Mooney

The best pitcher for the Cubs right now was drafted by a different organization in a round that no longer exists. Ben Brown was so far back on the preseason depth chart — and so integral to the team’s bullpen plan — that it would take a long chain of events before he would even get this opportunity to start again.

Actually capitalizing on this chance would be another matter.

Curious about his craft and reflective on his journey, Brown often became the subject of optimistic stories in spring training that highlighted his latest adjustments and high-level potential. The starter-or-reliever debate had been going on ever since the Cubs acquired the A-ball prospect from the Philadelphia Phillies in the David Robertson trade at the 2022 deadline.

Within this unpredictable season of extremes — two 10-game winning streaks as well as a 10-game losing skid — the Cubs are watching Brown put it all together at a time when the rest of their rotation is falling apart.

“He’s been so nails,” Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “There’s so much confidence in every pitch that he’s throwing. He’s really becoming a pretty incredible starting pitcher in front of everybody.”

As long as he stays healthy.

That concern is heightened as four members of Chicago’s season-opening rotation have already landed on the injured list at different points this year. The late-May/early-June timeline for Justin Steele’s return was scrapped when the one-time All-Star was diagnosed with a flexor strain in his left elbow.

Brown once underwent Tommy John surgery as a Phillies prospect, and he missed a large portion of the 2024 season while dealing with a neck issue that was eventually identified as osteoma, a piece of bone growing as a benign tumor.

“We’re going to be cautious because we need him out there,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “We have to take care of him.”

Keep that in mind the next time Counsell takes the ball from Brown and puts the game in the hands of Chicago’s bullpen. Pitching against the San Francisco Giants for the second time in seven days Saturday night at Oracle Park, Brown was lifted after 5 innings in a 6-1 victory.

If you remember, Brown limited the Giants to one hit over 5 1/3 scoreless innings last weekend at Wrigley Field. The day before, a similar San Francisco lineup exploded for 18 runs. This time, Counsell pulled Brown after 87 pitches, only to watch trusted lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar promptly give up a home run to Rafael Devers. The Cubs would come back for a 3-2 win in 10 innings, but their offense is struggling to such an extent, and their pitching staff is stretched so thin, that the manager’s decisions are magnified.

“We’re going to be too soon than too late with Ben,” Counsell said.

Brown, 26, is listed at 6 feet 6, 230 pounds in this year’s media guide, and he looks noticeably bigger than he did last season, when he accounted for almost 120 innings between the major-league level, Triple-A Iowa and a playoff appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers. In his last outing (May 4) before transitioning into the rotation, he threw 25 pitches as a high-leverage reliever.

“You’re going into the game with a general sense (of pitch count), but nothing’s totally decided,” Counsell said. “You’re not worried about this game. You’re worried about the future. Often, you have to make decisions about the future during a baseball season because there’s 100 games left and there’s 20 Ben Brown starts left. Should I value 20 Ben Brown starts or 15 pitches?”

That perspective is one reason Counsell has a good reputation for handling a pitching staff. Pitchers respect the decision-making process when there’s open communication and regard for their long-term health and career prospects, which are often tied together.

Looking ahead, the manager said it’s “very reasonable” to expect Brown to make 20 more starts this year, a workload that would have him pitching into deep October.

“But if we want to get him there,” Counsell said, “we have to have some recognition that this is really a guy who’s never made it through a full season as a starter. He started out in the bullpen this year. He’s getting to a pitch-count area (where) the guys that have done it for their whole career (are). Do you want 15 more pitches? Or do you want to prioritize ‘we’re going to walk out of this feeling really good and recover well for the next one’?”

With his physicality and swing-and-miss stuff, Brown has often looked the part of a frontline starter, even if he didn’t initially carry much prospect pedigree as a 33rd-round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft out of New York’s Ward Melville High on Long Island.

The recent addition of a sinker and increased confidence in his changeup keep hitters off-balance, opening more possibilities with his curveball and high-end velocity. The how and why behind this turnaround will continue to fuel the organization’s internal belief that he can be a durable, resilient starter.

“It’s been a ton of open dialogue,” Brown said, referencing the club’s athletic training staff and pitching coaches. “Everyone has a pretty good gauge of how I’m feeling and, ‘What do I need to go out there and compete?’ Obviously, what I’m doing is pretty unique, just from a buildup standpoint. They’ve been honoring that.”

In six starts over the last month-plus, Brown has posted a 1.44 ERA with a 0.766 WHIP and 34 strikeouts over 31 1/3 innings. Though that exact level of performance likely isn’t sustainable, his adaptability is proven. And the Cubs changing the direction of their up-and-down season will require more unexpected contributions.

“There’s going to be hard times,” Brown said, “and there’s going to be good times. We’re just going to continue to back each other up the way that we have. I’m going to continue to lean on the people around me.

“I can’t just bank on future success. Tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity. That’s the mindset the Cubbies have had these last couple weeks. We just got to keep putting our best foot forward.”