Cubs Pitcher Ben Brown Suffers Setback, Putting His Potential Return On Pause

The Chicago Cubs were hoping to get Ben Brown back for the stretch run. 

The breakout pitcher was making significant progress from a neck injury that he suffered back in late June. He was reporting no symptoms while throwing and even threw two innings (34 pitches) in a bridge camp game at Sloan Park on Tuesday. 

That bridge camp game was a big step forward for Brown. How he came out of that outing was going to be a telling sign of what would come next for the young right-hander. If all went well, the Cubs could have sent him on a rehab assignment within the next week. 

Unfortunately, though, Brown did not come out of that bridge game fully healthy. Manager Craig Counsell told reporters before Wednesday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks that Brown is experiencing neck symptoms once again. He will now head back to Chicago with the team and meet with a doctor to determine the next steps. 

Suffering a setback this late in the season is obviously not great news for Brown. The expectation was that he would return sometime in September to provide a massive boost to the Cubs bullpen. Now, that is in jeopardy of happening. 

There is a strong possibility that the Cubs will eventually shut down Brown for the year following this setback. This is not the first time that the 26-year-old has dealt with a neck issue. He also missed the final three months of the 2024 season due to a similar injury. 

The Cubs are sort of in a wait-and-see mode with Brown at this point in the year. With only one month until the end of the regular season, Brown faces an uphill battle to contribute meaningful innings out of the bullpen in the final few weeks. 

Brown was in the midst of a career year on the mound before suffering a stress reaction in his neck. He had a 1.85 ERA and 65 strikeouts across 20 games (eight starts). His numbers since moving to the rotation were even better, as the young right-hander had a 1.70 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 42 ⅓ innings pitched. 

Chicago is obviously still hoping that Brown can return at some point down the stretch. But this latest setback might prevent that. 

Despite the latest setback for Brown, the Cubs are still expected to get multiple bullpen reinforcements over the next few weeks. Justin Steele is making significant progress from his flexor strain, and Shelby Miller continues to throw the ball well on his rehab assignment with the Triple-A club.