Ben Brown’s road back to the Chicago Cubs just got bumpier. The right-hander felt symptoms in his neck again this week. It happened near the end of a live outing in Arizona. Those symptoms got worse as the day went on.
Cubs Manager Craig Counsell shared the news on Wednesday. He said the team needs to “regroup” with Brown. Brown will fly back to Chicago with the team. He plans to check in with doctors once he’s home.
This isn’t a new injury. Brown has been out since mid-june with a stress reaction in his neck. Doctors later found it was actually a stress fracture in one of his vertebrae. It’s the same injury that ended his 2024 season early too.
Before landing on the injured list, Brown was having a great year. He posted a 1.85 ERA across 20 outings, including eight starts. The Cubs hoped he’d return this season as a bullpen arm. That hope is now on shaky ground.
If Brown does get shut down again, his throwing program has to restart from scratch. That takes weeks on its own. With the calendar running short, time is not on his side.
For now, the Cubs are just waiting on more word from doctors. A healthy Brown down the road matters more than rushing him back. Whether that means this season or next, nobody knows yet.
