The Chicago Cubs have been bitten by the injury bug throughout the entire season.

It's affected both the pitching staff as well as important position players. The season full of bad news for Chicago with injuries continued on Thursday with an announcement regarding the future outlook for right-hander Ben Brown.

Cubs announce Ben Brown is out for the season

According to Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network, Brown has been downgraded to out for the season. Brown has been on the injured list since mid-June with a neck injury.

Brown was recently nearing a return to the mound for rehab starts, but injury symptoms shut that down. Brown was reevaluated and the best scenario for him has now been revealed as shutting him down for the remainder of the season.

Ben Brown had been Chicago's best pitcher this season prior to his injury

Brown began the season as a bullpen option for Chicago but was forced to move into the starting rotation due to injuries piling up.

Brown welcomed that challenge and became a dominant arm in the rotation. He made eight starts, pitching to a 1.70 ERA with 42 strikeouts across 42 1/3 innings pitched. 

The Cubs seemed to be winning nearly every time Brown took the mound, and he was widely regarded as the best starting pitcher on the team.

Few pitchers change enough to become a completely different version of themselves. Ben Brown is one of them. Basically, 2025 Brown retired. The 2026 version is a sinker baller. He continues to throw sinkers >40% of the time.

Here is every sinker he threw against SF pic.twitter.com/MyARacz8kn

Ben Brown has now suffered two neck injuries in three seasons

The same neck injury that will now force Brown to miss half of his 2026 season also caused him to miss over half of the 2024 season.

That is certainly a concerning factor in the way Chicago views Brown for 2027 and beyond. Brown will certainly have to come back strong and put together healthy consecutive seasons at some point.