2026 Stats
W-L
1-1
ERA
1.82
WHIP
0.91
K
27
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.
Awarded another start
Brown is slated to start Thursday's game against Atlanta at Truist Park.
Analysis
Brown made his first 12 appearances of the season out of the Chicago bullpen, but he was called upon to start on short notice this past Friday in the wake of Matthew Boyd's (knee) surprise placement on the injured list. Though he wasn't fully stretched out for a starting role and was pitching on three days' rest, Brown delivered a strong outing on the road, holding the Rangers scoreless over four innings while striking out three and permitting no hits and one walk. While the Cubs are still likely to monitor his workload carefully in his second start, Brown should be able to build on the 46 pitches he tossed against Texas and reach the five innings he would need to qualify for a win. Another solid showing in Atlanta would likely help Brown solidify a rotation spot on a longer-term basis while neither Boyd nor Justin Steele (elbow) are close to returning from the IL.
Brown made his first 12 appearances of the season out of the Chicago bullpen, but he was called upon to start on short notice this past Friday in the wake of Matthew Boyd's (knee) surprise placement on the injured list. Though he wasn't fully stretched out for a starting role and was pitching on three days' rest, Brown delivered a strong outing on the road, holding the Rangers scoreless over four innings while striking out three and permitting no hits and one walk. While the Cubs are still likely to monitor his workload carefully in his second start, Brown should be able to build on the 46 pitches he tossed against Texas and reach the five innings he would need to qualify for a win. Another solid showing in Atlanta would likely help Brown solidify a rotation spot on a longer-term basis while neither Boyd nor Justin Steele (elbow) are close to returning from the IL.
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
34
Last 10 Games
31
Last 5 Games
30
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
-6%
BAA vs RHP
2026
-21%
BAA vs LHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .254 | 110 | 33 | 88 | 16 | |||
| Since 2024vs Right | .238 | 102 | 27 | 92 | 8 | |||
| 2026vs Left | .152 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2026vs Right | .193 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 1 | |||
| 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 at Home
2026
-15%
ERA at Home
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 4.52 | 1.36 | 81.2 | 11.9 | 3.4 | ||||
| Since 2024Away | 4.68 | 1.18 | 109.2 | 8.5 | 2.4 | ||||
| 2026Home | 1.69 | 1.06 | 16.0 | 10.7 | 2.8 | ||||
| 2026Away | 1.98 | 0.73 | 13.2 | 5.3 | 2.6 | ||||
| 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
3.00K/9
8.2BB/9
2.7HR/9
0.3Fastball
96.6 mphERA
1.82WHIP
0.91BABIP
.231GB/FB
1.95Left On Base
74.2%Exit Velocity
83.4 mphBarrels/BBE
3.1%Spin Rate
2165 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
21.5%Swinging Strike
9.8%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
Goes four scoreless in start Friday
Brown didn't factor into the decision Friday against the Rangers, allowing one walk with three strikeouts across four scoreless and hitless innings.
Analysis
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Receiving look as starter Friday
Brown is slated to start Friday's series opener against the Rangers in Arlington, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reports.
Analysis
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Notches first save
Brown earned a save against the Diamondbacks on Saturday, striking out one batter in two perfect innings.
Analysis
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Continues to pitch well
Brown tossed 1.2 scoreless innings of relief with a strikeout to earn a hold in Wednesday's 5-4 win over the Padres.
Analysis
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Earns win in relief Wednesday
Brown (1-0) earned the win in relief Wednesday against the Phillies after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up three hits but striking out five.
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.