Cubs have “moved on” from the idea of Ben Brown as part of the Opening Day rotation

Take out a mop-up duty appearance on Opening Night when Ben Brown stepped in to eat innings after Justin Steele suffered a hamstring injury and his overall numbers this year were pretty special.

Again, removing that March 30 appearance in Texas, the lanky Chicago Cubs right-hander made eight starts and a half-dozen relief appearances, working to a 2.68 ERA and 2.79 FIP across 53 2/3 innings of work, punching out 63 and holding opponents to a .192 average. Maybe it's cherry-picking, but removing his final two appearances of the season, which came in late June right before he hit the IL, and things really pop: 44 2/3 innings with a 1.61 ERA and 2.05 FIP.

After multiple attempts to get him back on the mound, the Cubs shut him down for the year in mid-August without much in terms of a clear timetable or specifics, in general, on the neck injury that cut his season short. That uncertainty doesn't seem to have gone away, with the team already 'moving on' from the idea of Brown in the Opening Day starting rotation.

According to Cubs beat writers Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney, we shouldn't expect much in terms of updates on Brown until camp in the spring. The hope is he can use the offseason to put this behind him and be ready for action next season, but it's too soon to tell if that would mean his heading to Iowa as a depth option or joining the big-league team as a bullpen piece.

With the rotation an area the Cubs are looking to add this winter, this gives us at least a slightly clearer picture in terms of what they have in the bag right now. Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga will be back, giving Chicago a formidable left-handed 1-2 punch at the top. Barring a trade, Jameson Taillon will be back and, at the end of the season, it seemed like Javier Assad may have an inside track on a spot, as well.

That obviously leaves a spot open - and the expectation is it'll be an external addition in that spot. One could even make the case that Assad could slide into a swingman role in 2025, allowing Jed Hoyer to add two starters this offseason, but we'll have to see how that plays out.

The one thing we know right now is Brown isn't going to be part of the Opening Day rotation. Beyond that, we likely won't know much more until the team reports to Mesa in February.