Craig Counsell gives Ben Brown injury update that threatens Cubs' entire season

Given how things have gone for the Chicago Cubs on the injury front this year, it was hard not to jump to worst-case scenario thinking when we learned Ben Brown was dealing with a neck issue.

And, based on Craig Counsell's latest update on the injured right-hander, it might not be worst-case just yet, but it certainly doesn't sound like an encouraging diagnosis: a stress reaction that is 'very similar' to the one he suffered two years ago.

After that injury arose in June '24, Brown didn't throw another pitch for the Cubs that season: a turn of events that would be downright disastrous this time around. Counsell noted that the right-hander will be re-assessed in a month, but there's no clear timetable for any sort of return, leaving the team in a wildly precarious situation with just weeks left in the first half of the season.

Ben Brown has been a savior for the Cubs' pitching staff this year

The 26-year-old hurler has finally lived up to the hype and expectations that surrounded him since the Cubs acquired him four years ago in a deadline deal that sent David Robertson to the Phillies. In 60 innings of work, Brown owns a 1.85 ERA and 0.941 WHIP. He's been even better since seizing a role in the rotation earlier this year, with a 1.70 ERA and 0.898 WHIP across eight starts - anchoring a staff that's been rocked by too many injuries to count.

Even as the Cubs weathered one pitching injury after another in recent months, the hope and belief was that reinforcements would come and things would level off. Instead, the injuries have continued to mount and a key internal piece who could've been a huge addition in Justin Steele, is not expected to start for the team this year - if he pitches at all.

Jed Hoyer swung a trade for Mets' castoff David Peterson on Wednesday night and the hope is that he can regain some of the form that made him an All-Star in 2025. But there's no doubt about it: losing Brown, on top of the previous losses of Steele and Cade Horton, is the last thing this Cubs team needed.

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