Ben Brown DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Chicago Cubs right-hander Ben Brown will open the 2025 season as the team's fifth starter, according to The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma. Brown will be afforded a rotation spot to open the season after Javier Assad (oblique) was injured in spring training. The 25-year-old appeared in relief in the season opener in Tokyo, Japan, last week against the Los Angeles Dodgers and was hit with a loss after giving up three runs (two earned) over 2 2/3 innings. Brown didn't fare too well in spring training, either, posting a 6.75 ERA with 13 hits allowed (one homer), one walk and nine strikeouts in eight innings over three Cactus League outings (two starts). He held his own in his rookie season in 2024 with a 3.58 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 64:19 K:BB in 15 outings (eight starts) before a neck injury cut his season short. There's some intriguing swing and miss to Brown's arsenal, particularly his knuckle-curve, making him worth a dart throw in deep-mixed leagues for depth.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Ben Brown was the first arm out of the bullpen for manager Craig Counsell in the team's 4-1 loss against the Dodgers in Tokyo on Tuesday morning. While the young righty took the loss by giving up three runs (two earned) in 2 2/3 innings, he also showed why the Cubs are high on him by striking out five, including getting Shohei Ohtani swinging to end the sixth inning with a runner in scoring position. The fact that Brown threw 65 pitches even with plenty of options available behind him in the bullpen seems to indicate that the Cubs plan on using him as their fifth starter to begin the season after placing Javier Assad (oblique) on the injured list.

Chicago Cubs right-hander Ben Brown will continue to be stretched out as a starter in camp because the team knows he could be a big X-factor for their starting rotation, The Athletic's Patrick Mooney writes. It makes more sense for Brown to increase his workload in spring training and be available at the start of the year if the Cubs need another starter, rather than immediately turning him into a high-leverage reliever. It's always easier to move a pitcher to the bullpen later on than to try to ramp back up towards 100 pitches. If the 25-year-old is in a rotation spot for Chicago, the 6-foot-6 right-hander has plenty of fantasy upside with his swing-and-miss stuff, although the fact he still has a minor-league option remaining could make him the odd-man out. A neck injury limited him in 2024, but he also threw seven no-hit innings against the Brewers in May.