Ben Brown Is Cementing Himself As A Key Cubs Rotation Piece
Ben Brown hadn't been able to live up to his potential consistently before, but he's now doing that way more consistently in 2026.
| | 
Since the Chicago Cubs acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline, Ben Brown has shown the potential to be a strong big league starter.
His four-seamer sits in the mid-90s consistently with the ability to touch even higher. His knuckle curve is nasty, as long as he’s hitting his spots.
Some starters have lasted with a pitch mix dominated by two offerings. Brown could’ve potentially been the next one to do it.
Working to Find Consistency
He’s had his moments where he’s lived up to the hype. Look no further than his start in Milwaukee on May 28, 2024, when he tossed seven no-hit innings while striking out 10 Brewers. That outing showed that when he’s on, he can dominate.
Unfortunately, during his first two seasons, he just couldn’t pitch at that level consistently enough.
Brown only appeared twice more during the 2024 season due to a neck injury. Though he returned and made Chicago’s Opening Day rotation in 2025, he didn’t find the kind of success the team hoped he would in a healthy season. He ultimately made 25 appearance last season, but only 15 of those were starts. His last seven outings (and eight of his final nine) were in relief.
Entering 2026, Brown owned a career 5.12 ERA, including an ERA of 5.26 as a starter. It seemed his future would come as a reliever (he made the Opening Day bullpen this year), where his four-seam/knuckle curve-dominant mix could realistically find more success.
The 26-year-old wasn’t content with that, though. Brown went to manager Craig Counsell at the end of last season and laid out his plan to improve.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do,” Brown said last month. “There was a little movement thing with the arm angle I wanted to get better at. I wanted to just stay more in plane, and I wanted a sinker and a changeup. … I felt like I didn’t execute well against right-handed hitters last year, when I should be dominating against them, and I think lefties, with how good my stuff is, I just needed another wrinkle against left-handed hitters.
“I was very up front about what I wanted to work on. I obviously saw there was a lot of problems and a lot of flaws in my game, and my mentality and me as a man and everything in general just needed some work. I definitely had a plan.”
Ben Brown’s Impressive Start
That plan has paid off in the form of a very impressive year to this point.
Brown was at it again Saturday afternoon, tossing 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball in the Cubs’ 3-2, 10-inning win over the San Francisco Giants at Wrigley Field. He only allowed one hit and one walk while striking out five.
His performance Saturday was another in a growing list of strong Brown outings in 2026. On the season, he’s sporting a 1.74 ERA. In just his six starts since rejoining the rotation, his ERA is 1.44.
“Honestly, all glory to God,” Brown said. “I’m sometimes just taken away by, I feel like I’ve just been really cared for, and I’m truly blessed for these last couple months, just to have this opportunity. There’s just a ton of gratitude. … The success has been really encouraging. Just feels like a blessing, honestly, and I’m just excited for more.”
Brown incorporating more offerings into his arsenal has been a big contributor to that. His four-seamer and knuckle curve made up over 95% of his pitches in each of his first two seasons. In 2026, that’s down to only 73.7%. Meanwhile, he’s upped his changeup usage a bit (6.3%), and he’s really taken to the two-seamer. He essentially only picked it up in December, yet he’s currently throwing it on 20% of his pitches.
The sinker has done very well against righties, which is who he’s throwing it to a majority of the time, while he’s found much more success with the changeup (thrown exclusively to lefties thus far).
Perhaps as a result of all of that, his previous home run issues are also way under control. Whereas his 1.52 HR/9 mark was among the worst in the game last year (22nd-highest for pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched), he’s only given up one home run through 57 innings this season — that coming back on March 26.
He hasn’t allowed a homer over his last 56 2/3 frames, and among pitchers with 50-plus innings pitched, his 0.16 HR/9 is the second-lowest mark.
The Cubs Are Loving the Results
“He’s pitching very confidently right now,” Counsell said. “That’s the biggest thing. It’s a confident guy on the mound, and I think we see that.”
“He’s been so nails,” said Pete Crow-Armstrong, who went 4-for-5 with two homers in Saturday’s win. “I feel like there’s just so much confidence in every pitch that he’s throwing, especially with developing two new pitches. … I think he’s really just becoming a pretty incredible starting pitcher in front of everybody.”
The year he’s put together so far is one Chicago hoped Brown could give them. Again, the potential has been there. He just had to find a way to live up to it.
More than two months in to 2026, he is living up to it.
With injuries and/or regression hitting other rotation arms, the Cubs needed Brown to step up. He’s done that and more, and he’s turned himself into Chicago’s top pitcher.
“I think there’s real upside and potential for him in the rotation,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters Friday. “I think the sinker gives him the pitch he didn’t have before, which allows early-count outs that he couldn’t get. I feel like, before, with the four-seamer, curveball, occasional changeup mix, it just felt like every count was deep. He had really good stuff, [but] it was hard for him to get quick outs.
“Now, he can get a double play with that sinker, he can throw it in on a righty and get a one or two-pitch out. That’s really what I thought he lacked before, and he’s done a fantastic job with that.”
If this was originally a temporary move to the rotation, Brown has made sure there’s no move back to the bullpen coming anytime soon. His job now is to make sure his opportunity to start lasts for a long time to come.
“I’m going to continue to put my best foot forward,” Brown said. “There’s going to be hard times, and there’s going to be good times, and we’re just going to continue to back each other up the way that we have. I’m going to continue to lean on the people around me. Just gotta go start by start, outing by outing. I can’t just bank on future success. I’m going to enjoy this for sure, but tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity.”
Become a Member of Just Baseball
Subscribe and upgrade to go ad-free!
* Save 25% by subscribing annually.
Written by
Baseball writer and podcaster. Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) member. Past stops include CHGO Sports, MLB.com and more. Chicago is my home ballpark.