CHICAGO – Ben Brown was trying to do everything in his power to make a comeback this season to help the Cubs’ pitching staff down the stretch and into October. After seeking a variety of medical opinions, the focus for the sidelined pitcher has shifted to 2027.
On Thursday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that Brown will not pitch again this season, following a recent setback with the neck injury that has kept him on the injured list for the past two-plus months. The consensus is that Brown’s injury requires an extended period of rest, taking a return this year off the table.
“After consulting with doctors, it’s just more rest,” Counsell said. “There’s healing, but just not enough to allow the discomfort to go away. So, we just need to spend more time healing.”
Brown is dealing with a stress reaction in a bone within his neck – the pitcher noted it involved the C5 vertebra – that initially landed him on the IL on June 24. It is the same issue that cost Brown the final three months of his 2024 season, but the specific nature of the injury was not clearly identified until this year.
The plan following the first occurrence in June was to allow Brown time to rest until he was asymptomatic. The pitcher took a period of time off before slowing building up again through a conservative throwing program. Brown moved through the steps smoothly until a two-inning bridge game in Arizona on Aug. 25.
In the wake of that 34-pitch rehab outing, Brown reported feeling discomfort in his neck again, which led to the Cubs halting his comeback attempt.
“The frustrating thing for Ben,” Counsell said, “is just this is multiple times where this has knocked him out for a long period of time. And that obviously is what is the most frustrating part of it. And the answers are, ‘rest,’ which is a good answer, but sometimes a frustrating answer, because athletes want to do something to fix it, right? And there’s just not much to do.
“But in the case of bones, you just need to let them rest and some bones can just heal slower. You have to sit with that and that’s frustrating, for sure. And so you feel for Ben from that perspective.”
Shutting Brown down puts a period on what had been a breakout season for the righty.
At the time Brown made his last appearance on June 19, he was one of 23 pitchers in the Majors to compile at least 2.0 WAR (per Fangraphs). Brown had the fewest innings pitched (68) among that group, with the closest to him on the list being Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease (73 innings) and Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani (73 2/3 innings).
Armed with a new sinker – developed with the help of Clay Holmes over the offseason – Brown started this season off as a multi-inning reliever for Chicago. He posted a 2.10 ERA in a dozen games (25 2/3) out of the bullpen before moving into the rotation on May 8. Then, Brown spun a 1.70 ERA in eight starts (42 1/3) prior to the neck injury.
Overall, Brown turned in a 1.85 ERA with 65 strikeouts against 19 walks in 68 innings, in which he allowed just 45 hits and only two home runs.
Brown has discussed looking into the root cause of the injury, including seeing if there are any adjustments he can make to his strength program over the offseason. As for making any major changes to his delivery, Counsell said, “These guys throw hard because their body moves a certain way. You can’t invent another way to do that.”
By taking the rest of this season out of the equation, Brown and the Cubs can take a longer-view on how to try to avoid this in the future.
“It’s an injury that’s happened multiple times, so yeah, I think there’s concern,” Counsell said. “But, in the end, we’re going to get to spring next year, and Ben’s going to be a healthy player and he’s going to have to go out and do what everybody else does, because that’s the job.”