Chicago Cubs prospect Ben Brown earns top 100 status

According to MLB Pipeline, after a dominant start to his 2023 campaign, Chicago Cubs prospect Ben Brown has reached top 100 status. Before being promoted to Iowa recently, Brown had been on a torrid pace, notching a 0.45 ERA throughout 20 innings pitched to go along with 30 punchouts. Prompting the front office to send Brown to Iowa, the right-handed hurler began work at the highest level on the minors, where he has since recorded multiple 10+ strikeout games, and his overall numbers are clouded by one abysmal start that otherwise has him looking fantastic thus far for this Iowa Cubs.

Brown owns a 4.18 ERA in Triple-A, but most of that came from a start where he allowed seven earned runs over 4.0 IP. Given that his sample size is still relatively small at the Triple-A level, bringing that overall number down will take some work to reflect Brown's work this season.

That poor start came on May 16th, one of the five games Brown started last month. In the other four, he didn't allow more than one earned run in any of those starts, going at least 5.0 innings three out of the four times. The best improvement for Brown can come from limiting the free passes. In Double-A, he recorded a BB/9 of 2.7, but that number has ballooned to more than double in Iowa, up to 5.5. His H/9 is only slightly higher, at 6.8 from 5.9, but unfortunately, that small spike in hits has also resulted from giving up more home runs. Brown has allowed six HRs in 28.0 innings in Iowa vs. just 1 in his 20.0 innings at Tennessee.

Regardless, the strikeout numbers are exceptional. Brown already has 40 Ks in Iowa over those 28 frames, giving him an incredible 13.1 K/9 between Double-A and Triple-A this season. Brown appears poised to reach the majors this season in either a bullpen role or spot starter when needed. With one fine-tuning of his command, the Cubs' front office will be forced to call upon the young hurler at some point. It won't be very long until we see him in the majors, hopefully striking out as many batters as we see in Iowa.

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