Cubs manager Craig Counsell puts Ben Brown on blast after his latest rocky start

With Justin Steele out for the year and Javier Assad suffering a setback in his recovery from an oblique injury, the Chicago Cubs are all-in on their current rotation options. None seems more crucial to the team's success than young right-hander Ben Brown, who turned in a rocky outing Saturday in a string of up-and-down starts to open the year.

“We need better, frankly,” Counsell told MLB.com after the game. “There’s been some bright spots, and there is clearly some good things there. But 3 2/3, four innings -- fortunately we’ve had off-days – but during the course of a normal part of [a season], that’s going to hurt you.”

Brown was on cruise control through three innings: five strikeouts and no runs allowed. But the Phillies' offense, which has been somewhat quiet in April, blew the doors off in the fourth, scoring six times and chasing Brown from the game. Closing the book on his April, the lanky right-hander heads into a new month with an unsightly 6.04 ERA - which, frankly, isn't going to cut it for a team with postseason aspirations.

Cubs need Ben Brown to find more consistency, efficiency in his starts

He's been maddeningly inconsistent, running up 100-pitch counts in four innings in some outings, looking utterly dominant in others (like a six-shutout inning effort against the Dodgers) and giving you a bit of good and bad in others. Consistency will be key if he wants to keep his spot in the rotation and be a meaningful contributor moving forward.

To his credit, Brown owned his shortcomings - but he'll need to do more than that to help the Cubs return to October baseball for the first time in a full season since 2018. The bullpen has its own share of issues, and asking that group to cover five or six innings every five days when he pitches isn't a recipe for success.

Brown has pitched five innings in just two of his six starts, putting added stress on the rest of the staff. The stuff isn't the issue - when he's locked in, like we saw against the Dodgers, he's capable of putting away any hitter in the game. But he's going to have to get back in the lab with Tommy Hottovy and dial in the consistency because the Cubs can't afford to have his starts be a coin flip every time out.