Best Update of the Offseason for the Cubs

Back in November I wrote about the status of three young pitchers and whether the updates on their respective injuries would impact how aggressive the Cubs would be in their pursuit of more pitching talent this offseason. While it appears the Cubs will continue to target another starter despite the additions of Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea, maybe the biggest pitching news of the offseason for the team is the health of Ben Brown.

Although spring training doesn’t officially begin for another month there are plenty of Cubs players already preparing for the 2025 season in Arizona. That includes Brown, who earlier in the offseason was medically cleared to return to his normal baseball activities. The 25-year-old last pitched in June, missing the rest of the season with a nagging neck injury.

Via The Athletic.

Ben Brown has been cleared for a normal offseason throwing program, according to a team source. An unusual neck injury sidelined Brown, 25, for more than half of his rookie year — he did not pitch in a game after June 8 — denying the Cubs the chance to see one of their most promising pitchers develop.

The young righty was used both in the bullpen and in the rotation during the first half of the 2024 season and you could tell Brown was on the verge of taking the next step before the neck injury stopped his progress. Brown posted a 3.58 ERA in 55.1 innings, including a 3.23 ERA in eight starts.

It was great to see the initial news of Brown getting cleared, but you just never know until a guy gets back on the field. Well, thanks to Justin Steele, Cubs fans can feel even better about Brown’s return. Steele was on the North Side Territory podcast this week and he gave fans a great update on Brown, who has been in Arizona, ramping up for the regular season.

Via North Side Territory.

“Ben Brown’s been out here pretty much the entire time. You know, stuff with his neck I would say is completely alleviated. He’s throwing, feeling good. Dude is a horse. The way he works out in the weight room and the intensity of his catch play and pen work is impressive.”

We’ll see how the Cubs plan to spread out Brown’s innings in 2025, but for now it’s a great sign that he’s back on the mound, back on schedule to return this season.

If Brown is indeed at 100% once Opening Day arrives, then the pitching staff looks much stronger than it did when the 2024 season ended. We’ll see how the Cubs utilize Brown, but he showed last year that he can be versatile when called upon to fill in at different roles.