The Rise of Ben Brown
The Chicago Cubs are now in first place in the National League Central Division.
It is almost impossible to have success in the MLB without a good bullpen. The Cubs have been able to win games without many of their high-leverage bullpen pieces.
Most notably, Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar, and Phil Maton have all spent time on the injured list. Palencia and Thielbar are two of the Cubs‘ best relievers, and, amazingly, the team has been able to sustain the loss of them. Those two aside, offseason addition Phil Maton has also missed time due to injury.
These relievers are crucial to the Cubs success, and there have been plenty of other injuries to other parts of the bullpen as well. With the number of injuries that have occurred thus far, you would expect the Cubs to struggle. But the opposite has happened; they are thriving because other guys have stepped up.
One of the main reasons this bullpen has stayed afloat is Ben Brown’s success this year.
The Cubs made the move to get Brown through a trade with the Phillies in 2022, and he has been a highly touted prospect for the club ever since.
He has had many ups and downs for the team, but has found his groove with the 2026 iteration of the Cubbies. Entering today, Brown has tossed twenty-four and two-thirds innings and has only allowed five earned runs. That stat line is good for a staggering 1.82 earned run average.
The most impressive part of Brown’s success is that he isn’t utilized in a typical reliever fashion. He often eats multiple innings for the Cubs, and in pivotal moments.
Brown turned the heads of Cubs fans recently with his performance in the series rubber match against the Padres. Brown entered the game with a two-run lead, but the bases were loaded with no outs. If that wasn’t too high pressure, three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. was up to bat. Brown managed to produce a sacrifice fly from Tatis and got a double play with the next hitter. He salvaged the lead by only allowing one run in a situation that seemed bleak for the Cubbies. The inning after, he got another two outs before Hoby Milner shut the door on the Padres. Brown has come up clutch for the Cubs so many times this season when they desperately need the help in the bullpen.
Ben Brown’s stat line is more impressive than it looks on the surface. It is crazy that he has allowed only five runs this year, but looking at his stats game by game reveals how special he has been. In his eleven appearances this season, he has not allowed a run in eight of them.
Even when Brown has surrendered runs, it has only been one or two of them. For the vast majority of his action, he allowed no runs. But even when he does, it is very limited.
In a time where there have been so many guys going down in the bullpen, Ben Brown has stepped up and played a huge part in the Cubs’ success as a team.
Once the injured relievers return, it will be interesting to see how Counsell uses Brown. But in the meantime, Brown is going to continue to put up zeros in the box score.
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Categorized:Cubs