Cubs right-hander Ben Brown has been out for a few months due to a stress reaction in his neck. Today, manager Craig Counsell informed reporters that Brown won’t be able to make it back in the remainder of the season. Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network was among those to pass along the update. Brown is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the campaign.

It’s an unfortunate development but it doesn’t register as a shock. Last week, it was revealed that Brown had been slowed down by a recurrence of symptoms related to that injury. With only a few weeks remaining in the season, the calendar was working against him. After a lengthy absence, even if he were healthy, it would take a few weeks for him to ramp up and get back into game shape. Since he’s still fighting symptoms, it’s understandable that the club would just shut him down and focus on next season.

That’s a blow for the Cubs, as Brown was in the middle of a nice breakout season before he got hurt. He started the campaign in a relief role but some strong results from Brown and injuries to other pitchers opened a rotation chance for him, an opportunity that he ran with. By the time he hit the IL, he had thrown a total of 68 innings over 20 appearances, allowing 1.85 earned runs per nine. He had a 1.70 ERA as a starter and 2.10 as a reliever. His 24.5% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 44.6% ground ball rate were all a few ticks better than average.

At various times this year, Cubs fans could have dreamed about guys like Brown, Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, Justin Steele, Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton making postseason starts. Horton had Tommy John surgery, so he’s off the list. Steele might still be able to return from last year’s UCL surgery but as a reliever and not a starter. Cabrera is on the IL due to his ongoing blister issues and will probably come back as a reliever as well. Now Brown is off the list too.

Boyd and Imanaga are still in the mix but the injury issues forced the Cubs to turn to the trade market this summer. They picked up Kevin Gausman, Clay Holmes and David Peterson in separate deals and will be patching their rotation together from that group.

Brown coming back as a reliever could have also been nice for the Cubs but that’s apparently not possible either. He’ll be focusing on getting 100% right for 2027, with lots of opportunities available in next year’s rotation. Imanaga, Gausman and Peterson are impending free agents. Boyd’s deal has a 2027 mutual option but it’s been over a decade since one of those was picked up by both sides, so he should be considered an impending free agent as well. Holmes has a $12MM player option that he is sure to turn down as long as he is healthy and relatively effective.

That leaves Brown in the mix alongside a host of other guys with question marks, such as Cabrera, Steele, Colin Rea, Javier Assad, Braxton Garrett and others. The Cubs will surely add to that group in the winter via free agency or trade, but there should be room for Brown to get a lengthy run as long as his health allows.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images