Ben Brown, Pseudo-Closer?
With a five-run lead last night, and with a fully-rested bullpen, Craig Counsell elected to go with Ben Brown for the 9th inning in the win over the Braves. That was notable in a lot of ways, not the least of which was because it was Brown’s first single-inning appearance of the season (and his first since April of 2024, which was the only one last year).
Does it actually mean anything? Is Brown finally being converted into a single-inning, medium-to-high-leverage role? Where his premium fastball and breaking ball could potentially play up in quick bursts?
It’s something a lot of folks have wondered about with Brown for the last couple years, as the Cubs have clung to the understandable hope that he could turn a corner as a starting pitcher.
A couple potential reasons to hold any horses about seeing this as a prelude to a true and permanent conversion, though.
First, you have to consider the match-ups that were coming in the 9th. At first glance, you might see Ozzie Albies and Drake Baldwin coming first, and not see why righty Ben Brown would be the choice. But Albies, a switch-hitter, has been much worse against righties this year than lefties. And Baldwin has actually OBLITERATED fellow lefties this year, while being only a little above average against righties. And then you had Ha-Seong Kim, who has always been a traditional-split righty. These were good match-ups for Brown, relative to some other options, and he mowed ’em down.
Second, you have to remember that the Cubs had designs on Brown moving into a relief role last year when an oblique injury scuttled it. That is to say, of course the Cubs might consider Brown in a true relief role for September+, because the rotation is overflowing and you never know who might be your best options come October. That’s not quite the same thing as the Cubs finally, fully, and long-term giving Brown a look in relief.
It’s possible we’ll see Brown in more single-inning appearances the rest of the way. Personally, I hope for it, because I think there’s a chance he COULD be one of the team’s best six or seven short-inning options right now. But even if the Cubs do that, I don’t know that we can say he’s been converted into relief. It might just be a matter of circumstances.
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