The Chicago Cubs' starting rotation could be seen as one of their only flaws this season. Changes could be coming soon, starting with removing a former top 10 prospect from the mix.
The Cubs have lost Justin Steele for the year after he underwent surgery. Jameson Taillon and Ben Brown have not been great this season, and FanSided's Zachary Rotman urged the Cubs to move on from Brown in the starting rotation. Brown was the Cubs' No.8 prospect in 2023.
"Through his first six appearances of the season, Brown has posted a 6.04 ERA in 25.1 innings of work," wrote Rotman. "ERA might not be the best indicator of overall production in a small sample, as one bad start can inflate it tremendously, but a deeper dive into Brown's starts shows that he has not pitched well for the most part."
Of his five starts, he has gone five innings or less in four of them. He has already walked 14 batters this season.
"Brown has an 11.1 percent walk rate, good for the 29th percentile according to Baseball Savant," wrote Rotman. "He's struck out a good number of batters, but his inability to throw consistent strikes has been a problem. He's walked at least three batters in three of his six starts, which, especially when considering the lack of length he's provided, is unacceptable."
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Brown's best start came against the Los Angeles Dodgers, surprisingly. He threw six shutout innings against the reigning World Series champions. However, there may be a better option available.
"Brown being able to do that against that team shows that there's something there, but he has not been close to consistent enough to warrant keeping him in the rotation," wrote Rotman. "Considering the injuries, it might not be ideal to send him down, but Jordan Wicks, another pitcher with MLB experience, has pitched pretty well in Triple-A this season. Inserting him in Brown's spot makes too much sense for the win-now Cubs while letting the young right-hander continue to develop."
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