Ben Brown is a great example of why baseball is great.

5/22/2026

As I write this, the Cubs have been in quite a spiral the last couple weeks, losing the last 4 series’, going 3-9 in their last 12, and were just swept by their division rival Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley. Throw in the recent PCA debacle, and it’s been a rough couple of weeks for Cubs fans. But over here at Talking Sportsball, we like to try and find the positives (at least today). 

Cubs pitcher Ben Brown’s performance in 2026 is a great example of why baseball is so great. Baseball is definitely a sport that is just as much mental as it is physical. 162 games in a year and going two whole weeks without a day off, imagine how that could feel if a player is struggling on the mound or at the plate? You may have heard the famous saying, baseball Hall of Famers fail 7 out of 10 times in their career at the plate. And in today’s baseball with batting average not being as important of a statistic, that figure is probably closer to failing 3 out of 4 times at the plate. I bring this up to illustrate that baseball is a game of mental toughness, and truly tests the ability of an individual to have a short memory and not allow previous failures to influence their confidence in their abilities. A player that goes 0-4 with 4 strikeouts in a game, still has opportunities to make plays on defense that can positively impact a game. Baseball is a lot like life; sometimes, things just are not going your way, but you have to keep showing up everyday for yourself, your loved ones, and other times your occupation to keep yourself moving through life. 

I believe that Ben Brown is a great example of someone continuing to show up and put in the work, even though the results have not always been there. The Cubs traded for Ben Brown in 2022, trading long-time relief pitcher David Robertson to the Phillies for Brown, who at the time, was a pitching prospect in the lower levels of the minor leagues that was floating around the end of MLB’s Top 100 prospects list. Ben Brown’s pitch profile at the time included a fastball reaching the upper 90’s, and a curveball with a lot of movement. Fast forward to 2024 when Brown debuted with the Cubs and split time between the starting rotation and bullpen, posting promising numbers in a limited workload of 55 innings which included a 10.4 strikeout per 9 innings rate, and a 3.58 Earned Runs Average. 

In 2025, the Cubs gave Brown an extended look, with little success. Brown started 15 games, and appeared out of the bullpen for 10 more games, compiling 106 innings. Brown gave up 70 earned runs over the season, good for a 5.92 ERA and -1.6 Wins Above Replacement. The -1.6 WAR stat basically tells use that Brown was worth negative wins for the Cubs compared to an average, replacement level pitcher. In other words, Brown was horrific. As a fan, I would watch these outings last year and often be very disappointed, or even annoyed that the Cubs continued to put him on the mound. I wonder how Brown felt during this season? I am almost certain, way more frustrated than the fans were. But as you watched him, he continued to show up when called upon, never visibly showed his frustration/anger/disappointment/you name it, and was clearly putting in his best efforts. 

Much to the dismay of Cubs fans at the start of the 2026 season, Brown made the Cubs major league roster out of spring training. It seemed to be a curious decision at the time, as the rotation was filled out with the likes of Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Edward Cabrera, Cade Horton, and Matthew Boyd. The bullpen also had a number of proven guys like Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar, and newcomer Phil Maton. It seemed that his role would be in a long relief position, a type of pitcher in which teams often use a player to “eat innings” when innings need to be pitched, but the manager might not one to burn one of the high leverage relievers because the game is either a blowout or out of reach. And that seemed to be his role during the beginning part of the year. 

Fast forward to late May, and injuries to Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, as well as the 3 previously mentioned relievers, and Ben Brown was quickly one of the most tenured Cubs pitchers that was healthy on the roster! Suddenly, Brown was pushed into more of a high leverage relief role, often pitching multiple innings during the 7th and 8th innings of close games. And Ben Brown has shown he was truly ready for the opportunity. A year after opposing hitters were salivating seeing Brown on the hill, hitters are having a tough time figuring out how to do any damage at all against Brown in 2026. In 15 games pitched this year, most of which has been in relief, he has compiled 38.2 innings of work with a 2.09 Earned Runs Average. According to Baseball Savant, opposing hitters have an expected batting average of .210, which is in the 84th percentile of pitchers in the majors. According to Baseball Savant, Brown’s Pitching Run Value is rated in the 95th percentile, which is basically saying that he has been a top 5% most effective pitcher in the league. With continued injuries to the starting pitching rotation, given Brown’s experience as a starting pitcher, he has recently been thrown into the starting rotation, and has shown he can still answer the bell in that role. Recently, Brown started a game against the Atlanta Braves, who have been the best team in baseball for most of 2026 with the most potent offense. Ben Brown responded by throwing 4 scoreless innings and leading the Cubs to victory that day. 

Ben Brown is a great example of why I love baseball, and the kinds of stories I love to see during the season. I can only imagine how difficult his 2025 was, knowing that everything he was trying was not working. Maybe one day Talking Sportsball will have a chance to talk to Ben Brown to hear about how he navigated these challenges. Brown responded in 2026 by adding 2 more pitches to his repertoire over the off-season, a sinker and a change-up, which hitters this year have shown they have had trouble adjusting to the new Ben Brown. I cannot sit here and tell everyone that this will continue, because that’s baseball. We have seen countless players have one really good season, and completely fall off a cliff. But Ben Brown has shown that he has the ability to adapt and recognize that change was needed if he was to succeed at this level. On top of that, he was able to overcome continued failure after failure and persevere, when he easily could have stopped putting in the work. I look forward to see what else Brown has in store for us for the rest of the 2026 season!