The Chicago Cubs stand to have a pretty strong starting rotation.
Even with Javier Assad’s left oblique strain sidelining him and forcing him to start the season on the injured list, the team still looks deep when it comes to starting pitching.
The current front four of the rotation consists of Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, and Matthew Boyd. Competition for that fifth slot will consist of Colin Rea, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown, and Assad, when he’s healthy.
Brown, especially, may play a significant role in the Cubs’ starting rotation plans in the immediate future. The question is whether that immediate future is within the coming weeks, later in the year, or next season.
The Value of Ben Brown
The 6-foot-6 right-hander impressed last year and overpowered at times before having his season shut down with a persistent neck injury that hobbled his work.
Up until that injury, Brown had delivered a 3.58 ERA in 55.1 innings, including a 3.23 ERA in eight starts. His brilliant 7-inning, no-hit, 10-strikeout performance against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 28 showcased the kind of plus-plus potential the young talent possesses in his lanky frame.
This year, however, he’s back to competing for a spot on the team after being given full medical clearance to pitch at 100% capacity. So far this spring, he’s pitched eight innings in three appearances.
Chicago Cubs, Tasked With Finding The Right Place For Brown
There’s no doubt that the 25-year-old has a place on the team. The question is whether he’s going to find that place in the bullpen or as a starter. And, if the answer is the latter, whether he might start the season in Triple-A Iowa.
Per Patrick Mooney of The Athletic:
“Ben Brown will continue to be stretched out as a starter because the Cubs know he could be a big X-factor for their rotation and they don’t want to foreclose that possibility right now. Rather than tapering his innings in March and immediately turning him into a high-leverage reliever, it makes more sense for Brown to increase his workload and be available if the Cubs need another starter. Moving to the bullpen later would be easier than trying to ramp back up toward 100 pitches again.
At this stage of his career, Brown, 25, expects this to be a fluid situation and understands things. He’s a 6-foot-6 right-hander with swing-and-miss stuff, an analytical approach to pitching and a minor-league option this year.”
Brown Has A Preference, But Just Wants To Win
Brown, himself, says that he prefers starting, although he’ll play any role that helps the Cubs win.
“I do want to be a starter in this league,” Brown told The Athletic. “And I do want to be a starter for a very long time. Obviously, we have a very good team, a very deep team. I want to have a role. I’m preparing to go out there and get outs. I think that my stuff plays out of the bullpen. I think it plays as a starter. I don’t think my approach changes at all.”
There’s no doubt that the future is bright for Brown. But will he shine now or later…and in what role, exactly, will he shine? All of that remains to be seen.
In the meantime, everybody, including current Cubs, sees his value.
“Ben Brown…that dude’s a horse,” Cubs ace Justin Steele said on the North Side Territory podcast, prior to the official start of spring training. “He’s in the weight room, doing the stuff that he would normally do. (We had) conversations when all that stuff was going on with his neck. When the player doesn’t really know what it is, it can affect you mentally. It makes you not want to do stuff because you don’t want to make it worse.
“Just to see him being the spring chicken that he is, doing the lifts, throwing with full effort, and having that personality that he always had, it’s just fun being around him. Watching him throw his bullpens and go through his work, you know the guy is going to be a stud if he gets a full season under his belt.”
2 Chicago Cubs players are ‘turning heads’ at spring training
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