The Chicago Cubs are going to promote several prospects in 2023 and they started on Saturday with a pair of pitchers.
Both Bailey Horn and Ben Brown have been bumped up from the Tennessee Smokies at Double-A to the Iowa Cubs at Triple-A. Horn, 25, had made six relief appearances, while Brown had just completed his fourth start of the season this past week for the Smokies.
Bailey Horn
Left-handed pitcher Bailey Horn was selected in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB draft by the Chicago White Sox out of the University of Auburn. Horn didn’t make his pro debut until the 2021 season after the 2020 minor league season was wiped out because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He started in low A-Ball in the White Sox organization, eventually getting promoted to advanced A-Ball after posting a 2.63 ERA in 27.1 innings.
Horn made 10 starts and four relief appearances in the White Sox farm system before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 29, 2021, for right-handed reliever Ryan Tepera.
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The Cubs kept Horn at advanced A-Ball, using him as a starter and reliever to end the 2021 season. In 2022, Horn was permanently moved to the bullpen and in 51.2 total innings, the lefty recorded a 2.79 ERA. Horn made it up to Double-A in 2022, posting a 3.46 ERA in 41.2 innings. Through his first nine innings pitched with the Smokies this year, Horn allowed two runs that both came in one outing.
The lefty made his Triple-A debut on Saturday, pitching a scoreless inning. Since becoming a full time reliever in 2022, Horn has struck out 94 batters in 61.2 innings.
Seeing that Horn is 25-years-old and he’s now up to Triple-A, you can begin to see a likely scenario in which he does make it up to the big leagues and pitches out of the Cubs bullpen some time in 2023. The Cubs only have one left-handed reliever that they are relying on right now in Brandon Hughes and he’s already been on the injured list twice in the first month of the season because of knee inflammation.
If Horn keeps putting up huge strikeout numbers, then the Cubs aren’t going to hesitate to give him a shot in the majors, especially if Hughes continues to have issues with his knee.
Meanwhile, I’ve been gushing about right-handed starting pitcher Ben Brown for a couple of weeks.
Ben Brown
Ben Brown made his fourth start of the season at Double-A on Thursday and he’s quickly become my pick for favorite pitching prospect in the Cubs minor league system.
The 23-year-old has been dominating hitters at Double-A, posting a 0.45 ERA in 20 IP. He hasn’t walked a batter in his last two starts, while striking out 17 in 11 innings.
Here are Brown’s overall numbers so far this season with the Tennessee Smokies.
Ben Brown First 4 Starts at Double-A in 2023
20 Innings Pitched
1 ER, 13 H, 30 K, 6 BB
0.45 ERA, 0.95 WHIP
Just like Horn, we could also see Brown make it up to the big leagues by the end of 2023 and work out of the bullpen.
