The Chicago Cubs certainly did not expect Ben Brown to be one of their best pitchers this season.

Brown started the season in the bullpen but was moved into the starting rotation when injuries began piling up. Brown was cruising along through the season, posting a 1.85 ERA across 20 outings and eight starts.

A neck injury landed Brown on the IL and just when it sounded like he would soon be ready to return, his injury status got a worrisome update on Wednesday.

Ben Brown's neck symptoms have returned

Brown threw a live BP session in Arizona on Tuesday and was expected to go out on a rehab assignment shortly after if all went well. That will not be the case, however, as Cubs manager Craig Counsell gave an update Wednesday surrounding Brown.

Counsell revealed that Brown became symptomatic toward the end of his bullpen session on Tuesday and that it got worse as the day moved along. 

Brown is now scheduled to fly back with the team to Chicago and be further evaluated and determine his next steps for a potential return this season.

Chicago was really counting on Brown to be a part of its postseason plans

Brown's breakout season was extremely encouraging and even with him being out since mid-June, Chicago was relying on him to get healthy and provide some sort of production down the stretch and in the postseason.

Now, it appears that Brown's absence will be prolonged, begging the questions of if he'll have enough time to rehab, throw more bullpens and go out on a rehab assignment before returning to the major league roster.

Brown's injury continues the season-long theme for Chicago of injuries to its pitchers. The Cubs will now have to regroup and evaluate their postseason pitching plans that will unlikely feature Brown.