15-Day IL
Injury Neck
Est. Return 8/21/2026
2026 Stats
W-L
4-2
ERA
1.85
WHIP
0.94
K
65
SV
1
Rest-of-Season Projections
2026 Fantasy Outlook
What did Brown do for you in 2025? The 121 strikeouts in 106.1 innings and a 19.1 K-BB percentage show his upside, but everything else showed his downside as well. Brown struggled to strand runners, as 36 percent of his baserunners scored, and his 18 home runs allowed had something to do with that. A .347 BABIP along with that low runners-stranded rate led to a 5.92 ERA as well. Simply put, Brown had a lot of misfortunes when balls were put into play, as the league waited for him to throw fastballs and pounced on them before he could get to his putaway pitches, hitting .315 off the heaters with 11 of the 18 home runs. Brown is also a two-pitch guy against righties, but did better against righties (.317 wOBA) than lefties (.378 wOBA) as lefties had little trouble picking up his fastball and knuckle-curve. Brown truly needs a deeper repertoire in this day and age of deep arsenals and multiple fastballs, because his current profile fits better in the pen, and, dare we say, as a closer if he were permitted to focus on that role. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Cubs in March of 2026.
Looking at extended absence
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Thursday that Brown has been diagnosed with a stress reaction in his neck and will have limited activity for the next month, 104.3 The Score reports.
Analysis
Counsell also noted that Brown's injury is "very similar" to the one the pitcher dealt with during the 2024 campaign. That year, Brown was sidelined in early June and wound up not appearing in another game for the remainder of the season. The Cubs will have a better idea as to Brown's timetable in one month, but the right-hander is looking at an extended absence.
Counsell also noted that Brown's injury is "very similar" to the one the pitcher dealt with during the 2024 campaign. That year, Brown was sidelined in early June and wound up not appearing in another game for the remainder of the season. The Cubs will have a better idea as to Brown's timetable in one month, but the right-hander is looking at an extended absence.
Pitching Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
2026
2025
2024
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
50
Last 10 Games
65
Last 5 Games
82
How many pitches does Ben Brown generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Ben Brown generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-12%
BAA vs RHP
2026
-26%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .252 | 133 | 42 | 108 | 16 | |||
| Since 2024vs Right | .223 | 117 | 28 | 99 | 9 | |||
| 2026vs Left | .213 | 38 | 15 | 27 | 0 | |||
| 2026vs Right | .157 | 27 | 4 | 18 | 2 | |||
| 2025vs Left | .288 | 62 | 14 | 57 | 13 | |||
| 2025vs Right | .272 | 59 | 18 | 64 | 5 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .233 | 33 | 13 | 24 | 3 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .181 | 31 | 6 | 17 | 2 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-3%
ERA on Road
2026
-32%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 4.22 | 1.29 | 98.0 | 11.3 | 3.1 | ||||
| Since 2024Away | 4.10 | 1.15 | 131.2 | 8.7 | 2.5 | ||||
| 2026Home | 2.23 | 0.99 | 32.1 | 9.5 | 2.2 | ||||
| 2026Away | 1.51 | 0.90 | 35.2 | 7.8 | 2.8 | ||||
| 2025Home | 6.04 | 1.59 | 47.2 | 12.5 | 4.0 | ||||
| 2025Away | 5.83 | 1.31 | 58.2 | 8.4 | 1.7 | ||||
| 2024Home | 3.00 | 1.00 | 18.0 | 11.5 | 2.5 | ||||
| 2024Away | 3.86 | 1.13 | 37.1 | 9.9 | 3.4 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Ben Brown compare to other relievers?
This section compares his stats with all relief pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 30 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 30 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
3.42K/9
8.6BB/9
2.5HR/9
0.3Fastball
96.4 mphERA
1.85WHIP
0.94BABIP
.253GB/FB
1.40Left On Base
78.4%Exit Velocity
84.3 mphBarrels/BBE
4.7%Spin Rate
2172 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
26.8%Swinging Strike
11.3%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
2023
Brown turned heads with his performance in spring training and pitched well for the Cubs during the regular season between the rotation and bullpen before a neck issue ended his campaign. It was found that he was dealing with a benign area of concern in his neck, but after a follow-up scan in November, he was cleared for a normal offseason. Brown is a 6-foot-6 righty who gets good extension and pulls the string on a knuckle curve to great effect. His knuckle curve had an absurd .134 xBA and 51 percent whiff rate last season. The lack of a third pitch could be an issue and the jury is still out as to whether he can make it as a starting pitcher. Brown was significantly better as a starter than as a reliever last season, which offers hope that he could snag one of the final rotation spots with a strong showing in camp.
More Fantasy News
Seeing specialist for neck injury
Brown returned to Chicago to have his neck strain examined by specialists, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.
Analysis
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Sent to IL with neck strain
The Cubs placed Brown on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to a neck strain.
Analysis
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Cruises to fourth win
Brown (4-2) earned the win Friday, allowing two runs on four hits and no walks over six innings against the Blue Jays. He struck out four.
Analysis
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Pitches well for third win
Brown (3-2) allowed one run on seven hits and three walks while striking out three over five innings to earn the win over the Giants on Saturday.
Analysis
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Strong again in no-decision
Brown did not factor into the decision in Saturday's 3-2 extra-inning win over the Giants, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out five over 5.1 scoreless innings.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Opening for MLB debut?
Justin Steele is headed for the injured list after suffering a strained hamstring Thursday, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune, and Brown could be in the mix to fill the vacant rotation spot.
Analysis
The 24-year-old righty was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in early March and never seemed to have much of a chance to make the Cubs' Opening Day roster, but he pitched well during spring training with just one run allowed and a 12:5 K:BB across 14 innings. Brown struggled upon being promoted to Triple-A Iowa last season with a 5.33 ERA in 22 outings, but his spring success and standing as a top prospect could put him on the radar for early-season starts with Chicago's rotation depth being tested.
The 24-year-old righty was optioned to Triple-A Iowa in early March and never seemed to have much of a chance to make the Cubs' Opening Day roster, but he pitched well during spring training with just one run allowed and a 12:5 K:BB across 14 innings. Brown struggled upon being promoted to Triple-A Iowa last season with a 5.33 ERA in 22 outings, but his spring success and standing as a top prospect could put him on the radar for early-season starts with Chicago's rotation depth being tested.