For several months Cubs fans were left wondering if Ben Brown was going to be healthy at the start of spring training after the right-handed pitcher missed the second half of 2024 with a neck injury. Well, Brown was 100% cleared heading into camp and now only is he healthy, the 25-year-old is now positioned to reclaim his spot in the starting rotation to begin the 2025 season.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan released his season preview article on Friday and when discussing the Cubs he dropped a welcomed surprise for Cubs fans.
Via ESPN.
The best thing I heard all spring: The Cubs are giving serious consideration to putting hard-throwing right-hander Ben Brown in the rotation’s fifth spot. The allure of Colin Rea, who threw 167⅔ perfectly OK innings last year, is in the high floor. Brown would be a ceiling play, fitting for a guy who stands 6-foot-6. With a high-90s fastball and monster curve, his repertoire is limited — or even better suited for the bullpen — but for someone of Brown’s talent, he’ll always have a spot as a reliever. Exhaust the possibility that he becomes a front-line starter before resigning him to the bullpen.
Brown made his big-league debut with the Cubs last season and spent the first three months filling in out of the bullpen and in the starting rotation. His best outing of the year came on May 28, against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out 10 batters in seven no-hit innings. That was just a glimpse of how good Brown could in the future as a mainstay in the Cubs’ rotation.
Unfortunately Brown’s rookie season was limited to 15 appearances and 55.1 innings because of problem in his neck that was later reported to be an osteoma, which is a benign bone tumor, growing off of another bone.
After some shuffling in the rotation the Cubs have plenty of depth, including veteran Colin Rea, who was signed later in the offseason. The door for the fifth spot in the rotation opened up for Brown early in camp, when right-hander Javier Assad suffered an oblique strain. Although Assad escaped a major setback he won’t be ready when the Cubs open up the rest of their regular season at the end of March against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
So, Brown, along with Jordan Wicks and Rea are among the mix to round out the rotation. At this point Rea is making the 26-man roster no matter what, so if the Cubs are seriously considering Brown as a starter on the MLB roster, then Rea would be pushed to bullpen, used a long-man and could potentially be a sixth starter as well.
Brown has pitched without any restrictions in spring training and he’s continued to ramp back up on starter’s innings. There’s no doubt that with his stuff Brown does provide the best ceiling out of the pitchers competing for that final fifth spot. A great sign for Brown and the Cubs after his rookie year was disrupted right when it appeared as though Brown was going to make his mark in the league.
Hopefully Brown gets that opportunity to shine in the rotation immediately in 2025.
(Previous Update)
Back in November I wrote about the status of three young pitchers and whether the updates on their respective injuries would impact how aggressive the Cubs would be in their pursuit of more pitching talent this offseason. While it appears the Cubs will continue to target another starter despite the additions of Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea, maybe the biggest pitching news of the offseason for the team is the health of Ben Brown.
Although spring training doesn’t officially begin for another month there are plenty of Cubs players already preparing for the 2025 season in Arizona. That includes Brown, who earlier in the offseason was medically cleared to return to his normal baseball activities. The 25-year-old last pitched in June, missing the rest of the season with a nagging neck injury.
Via The Athletic.
Ben Brown has been cleared for a normal offseason throwing program, according to a team source. An unusual neck injury sidelined Brown, 25, for more than half of his rookie year — he did not pitch in a game after June 8 — denying the Cubs the chance to see one of their most promising pitchers develop.
The young righty was used both in the bullpen and in the rotation during the first half of the 2024 season and you could tell Brown was on the verge of taking the next step before the neck injury stopped his progress. Brown posted a 3.58 ERA in 55.1 innings, including a 3.23 ERA in eight starts.
It was great to see the initial news of Brown getting cleared, but you just never know until a guy gets back on the field. Well, thanks to Justin Steele, Cubs fans can feel even better about Brown’s return. Steele was on the North Side Territory podcast this week and he gave fans a great update on Brown, who has been in Arizona, ramping up for the regular season.
Via North Side Territory.
“Ben Brown’s been out here pretty much the entire time. You know, stuff with his neck I would say is completely alleviated. He’s throwing, feeling good. Dude is a horse. The way he works out in the weight room and the intensity of his catch play and pen work is impressive.”
We’ll see how the Cubs plan to spread out Brown’s innings in 2025, but for now it’s a great sign that he’s back on the mound, back on schedule to return this season.
If Brown is indeed at 100% once Opening Day arrives, then the pitching staff looks much stronger than it did when the 2024 season ended. We’ll see how the Cubs utilize Brown, but he showed last year that he can be versatile when called upon to fill in at different roles.
