The Cubs opening game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday didn’t go the way any Cubs fan would have wanted. While there were moments that looked good both offensively and defensively, Ben Brown struggled through five innings, giving up nine hits, four of which were home runs while walking two and striking out just three. The performance was one of a handful of starts that have gone very poorly for Brown this season and resulted in the starting pitcher being sent to Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday.
There was a lot of fan frustration after Monday’s loss and more than a few prominent commenters giving up on Brown on various social media channels. I actually tend to agree more with Craig Counsell’s assessment after the game, which was an awesome example of why he’s such a good manager for young players, you can read part of that quote as reported by The Athletic:
“This is part of being a young starting pitcher in the league and trying to make progress,” Craig Counsell said. “As you have to get 15, 18 outs in a game, it’s difficult. It’s hard to see now, but there is growth happening. It’s hard to like the growth when there’s struggles going on, but that’s where the best stuff comes from. So we just gotta keep working on it and improve the quality of the execution. Keep going.”
Brown’s work with the Cubs this year has been a tale of two pitchers, at times he’s looked borderline unhittable but then a start like Monday happens. Some of the variance in results is likely because Brown has to be exceptionally fine relying on two pitches, and when that precision wanes the results fall apart fast. Take a look at Monday’s pitches by results below compared to what may have been Brown’s best start of the year against the Reds on May 31:
Monday against the Cardinals
Baseball Savant
May 31 against the Reds
Baseball Savant
During both starts Brown has some misses that Marquee Sports Network analysts have described as non-competitive. It’s one of the biggest issues for Brown. His misses aren’t close. But the big difference in results between the Cardinals and Reds games are the middle-middle misses that just got pulverized in St. Louis. Three of the home runs Brown gave up were middle-middle pitches that big league batters can and will punish.
The exception to the middle-middle misses is also a pitch Brown probably needs to work out in Triple-A rather than MLB. It’s the change-up at the top of the zone that Alec Burleson deposited 386 feet away. That change-up is important to give Brown more options to get batters out as a starter, but it can’t be thrown at the top of the zone like that, it might as well be on a tee.
Brown’s struggles on Monday aren’t new, but the demotion to Triple-A is actually an indication the team wants him to start over the long term and they are going to give him the chance to make the changes he needs to in Des Moines. There’s a case to be made that Brown could eventually find himself in the bullpen as a high-leverage reliever, but the Cubs don’t seem willing to make that move just yet. Here’s hoping he can fix what needs fixing in Iowa rather than during the pressure cooker of a pennant race that is much closer in the NL Central after two losses to the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cubs’ success in October likely depends on Brown coming back stronger down the stretch.