Ben Brown Enters Critical Cubs Season Trying To Convert Promise To Performance

Prospects show promise and then potential. Inevitably, each gets the chance to turn that into performance. How much time each gets depends on talent.

For Chicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown, the clock may be running out — at least with Chicago. The 2026 season will mark his 10th season as a professional pitcher. He’s 26 years old and began playing pro baseball straight out of high school, making his MLB debut in 2024. At one time, he was a Top 30 prospect.

Now, he’s just another former prospect trying to find a groove at the Major League level. It hasn’t been easy. Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins says Brown has “swing-and-miss stuff.” So why isn’t it consistent? That’s easy, Hawkins says.

Cubs GM Carter Hawkins | Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

“When he’s locating consistently, when he’s locating at the top and the bottom of the zone, he misses a lot of bats,” Hawkins said to The Athletic (subscription required) at the MLB Winter Meetings. “But when he’s locating in the middle of the zone, he doesn’t. And we’ve seen that. That’s been some of the damage that he’s given up.”

If Brown figures that out in 2026, he might have a long-term home in Chicago. If not? Well, it may be time for the Cubs to move on.

Ben Brown’s Challenge

Chicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown wears a towel over his hat in an effort to stay cool — David Banks-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 33rd round of the 2017 MLB draft. He developed slowly. But, in 2022, he was deemed good enough to be included in the trade that helped the Phillies get Cubs reliever David Robertson.

Brown’s size — 6-foot-6 — is part of the intrigue. Taller pitchers tend to generate more velocity, which can create larger distortions with their breaking pitches when they throw them effectively. But Brown is a bit unusual for a projected starter in that he relies almost exclusively on two pitches — a four-seam fastball he threw 56% of the time in 2025 and a curveball he threw 40% of the time in 2025, per Baseball Savant.

The velocity changes could be better. He averaged 95.8 mph on this fastball, just above the league average for right-handers. But his curveball averaged 87.2 mph, well above the right-hander average of 80.7 mph. He must rely more on pitch shape and location to get hitters out.

As a swing starter and reliever, he went 5-8 with a 5.92 ERA in 25 games (15 starts). But he struck out 121 hitters in 106.1 innings. His fastball velocity, his whiff percentage, his strikeout percentage, and his walk percentage were over the 70% percentile. When Hawkins says that “A really good major-league pitcher is in there,” he’s not kidding.

But two things stand out — his barrel percentage and his hard-hit percentage were among the worst in baseball last season. In other words, when hitters made contact, they did it square, and they hit it hard.

MORE: Cubs Get Major Tatsuya Imai Boost After Latest Yankees Statements

That won’t work long term. Matching those two data points with his already above-average data points would make Brown a consistent starter or reliever, one who has already proven he can strike out hitters at a high rate.

That’s what makes 2026 so pivotal for Brown. Promise only remains that for so long. It must be converted into performance or else the Cubs will have to move on.

The Latest Chicago Cubs News

Cubs Pair Named To Top MLB Playoff Performers List

Cubs Bullpen Philosophy Cost Them Brad Keller, Per Insider

Chicago Cubs Bring Back Backup Catcher For Second Stint With Club

Insider Reveals Why Cubs Might Lose Out On Tatsuya Imai