Ben Brown continues to trend in the right direction, despite the Cubs' struggles

The 2025 season has not been kind to Chicago Cubs right-hander Ben Brown. Originally slated to serve as a flex starter in the bullpen, Brown was vaulted into the rotation due to a shortage of arms. The experiment has not gone according to plan, with Brown posting a 5.89 ERA in 20 games.

With the return of Javier Assad to the rotation, Brown was relegated back to the bullpen, where he threw four innings of one-run ball in yesterday’s 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Brown failed to record a strikeout for the first time this season, but still showed promising signs on the mound.

Originally recalled from Triple-A on July 21, Brown saw immediate action that night, getting shelled for six earned runs in four innings of work. Since then, Brown has been much sharper, allowing only one run on three hits in five innings against the White Sox and four innings of one-run ball in relief of Michael Soroka last week.

Ben Brown has taken massive strides in an otherwise disappointing stretch by the Cubs

This brings us to Tuesday night, where Brown (almost) successfully navigated through four innings unscathed. His only run came off a solo shot from Daulton Varsho to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Home runs have been a vice for Brown, as evidenced by his 1.59 HR/9.

Barring that hiccup, it was an otherwise successful outing for the 25-year-old. Brown allowed only four hits and was able to get out of jams when he needed to, inducing a double play to squash a leadoff single in the seventh by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The one drawback was that every single out Brown recorded came from a pitch that was put in play. Three out of his four hits given up had exit velocities over 100 MPH, with the one exception being a 98.5 MPH double.

Overall, Brown has shown he can get through multiple innings relatively unscathed, as seen by his last three outings. With Jameson Taillon on the way back and Assad already here, if Brown can continue to be reliable for multiple innings at a time, it serve as a tremendous boost as the Cubs try to return to form.