The MLB is well into spring training, and the Chicago Cubs remain undefeated in Cactus League play at the time of writing. With their success comes questions about what the roster will look like on Opening Day. Given that the Cubs were submerged in headlines that were more so doom and gloom about how they missed on their key free agent targets such as Roki Sasaki and Alex Bregman, the fact is that manager Craig Counsell still has many weapons, including a potential starting pitcher in Ben Brown.

Last season, Brown flashed elite stuff before going down with a neck injury that cost him the rest of his rookie season. As mentioned in the piece from The Athletic (subscription required) linked above, Brown posted a 2.68 ERA in his final 53.2 innings before the injury occurred. Now fully healthy, Brown looks to earn his spot in the starting rotation.

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What can Ben Brown do to further improve for Cubs in 2025?

In 2025, Brown almost exclusively used a fastball/curveball combo. Although he had a lot of success, my biggest fear with Brown is that hitters eventually learn to lay off the curve and sit dead red. In 2024, batters hit just .141 against Brown’s curveball, so it doesn’t take a lot of logic to see why just looking for the heater will be every batter’s approach. Therefore, one huge area for improvement would be for Brown to add a third pitch to his mix.

His fastball had an average velocity of 96.4 mph, and coupling that with another fastball variant, such as a sinker, would force hitters off the fastball but still not know whether to sit on the gas or a breaking ball.

Looking at Brown’s Baseball Savant page, we see he did a lot of things exceptionally well, but there are things he can improve. One area of concern for me is the 22nd percentile ground ball rate of 37.7 percent. Back to the sinker, a pitch that induces ground balls would not only help the ground ball rate in general, but also help lay off as many barrels as possible while simultaneously lowering his hard-hit rate. Any time one pitch can check three boxes for you, it should be approached with an open mind, and spring training is the perfect time to see if a new pitch can be learned and thrown effectively.

A two-pitch mix must be an elite combo to work for a starting pitcher long-term. If not, it will prove difficult to routinely get through the batting order a third time and potentially into the later stages of a ball game. Justin Steele is a primary example, as his fastball/slider combo makes up 86 percent of his utilization rate. If Brown can add another pitch with effectiveness, he has a strong chance to be a breakout candidate in 2025. If he breaks out, he acts as the potential missing piece that can slot into the front of the Cubs rotation.