Ben

Brown

The team wants Assad to remain stretched out as a starter, so he will pitch in the rotation in Triple-A. This means that Ben Brown has made the Cubs’ Opening Day roster as a reliever. While the Cubs have not officially transitioned Brown to the bullpen, it likely remains the best fit for his skillset.

The 26-year-old hurler scattered two hits on the afternoon and did not allow a base on balls. The only scoring done against him came in the opening inning as Brenton Doyle smacked a one-out triple and scored on a ground ball off the bat of Hunter Goodman. Brown needed a strong showing on Saturday to keep in the mix for a roster spot, and he certainly delivered. For the spring, he holds a 3.38 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a sparkling 15/3 K/BB ratio across 10 2/3 innings.

The right-hander also issued three free passes in the ballgame while striking out three. Brown struggled with his command in the opening inning, issuing a bases-loaded walk to Gavin Sheets. He allowed another pair in the third inning as Nick Castellanos delivered an RBI single and then another run scored on a wild pitch. Brown threw just 29 of his 48 pitches for strikes in the ballgame, getting five whiffs and posting a CSW of 25 percent. If he continues to struggle like this, Brown is likely ticketed for Triple-A Iowa to start the season.

Colin Rea, Ben Brown and Assad are competing to make the Cubs as middle relievers but also to be first into the rotation should anything happen, and all three pitched today. Rea opened up with three scoreless frames, Brown followed by striking out three in two scoreless innings and Assad then kept the Dodgers scoreless through the eighth. Of the group, Rea is a lock to have a roster spot and Brown is most likely to open up in Triple-A. Assad is probably better than 50/50 to have a spot, but it’d certainly help his chances if someone got hurt.

Barring a couple of injuries, Brown’s only path to making the Cubs is as a reliever, but the team is keeping him stretched out for now. If all goes as hoped for the Cubs, there’s a good chance he’ll end the season as a setup man. First, though, he might open up in Triple-A Iowa’s rotation.

Brown’s inclusion represents the lone change for Chicago from their Wild Card Series roster against the Padres. The 26-year-old offers some additional long relief depth for the extended best-of-five series over Rogers, who was merely additional left-handed middle relief depth behind Drew Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar at this juncture.

Brown loses his spot despite a reasonable 4.50 ERA and a nice 22/5 K/BB in 18 innings out of the pen since the beginning of August. Unless someone lands on the injured list, he won’t be eligible to return to the majors during the regular season.

Brown’s four relief appearances this month have produced a 3.29 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. He might get another one or two three-inning saves in routs, but there’s probably no fantasy value here unless Daniel Palencia gets hurt.

Even though he went without a strikeout, Brown outpitched Javier Assad after Assad came off the IL and was announced as the starting pitcher before the game. That’s a good thing, but he still might be in line to return to the minors when Jameson Taillon comes off the injured list.

Nate Pearson was sent down last night to make room. Assad, who will get the start against the Blue Jays tonight over the previously announced Ben Brown, is finally ready to go again after suffering an oblique strain in February and experiencing a setback while on a rehab assignment in April. He had allowed two earned runs over 11 innings in his three recent rehab starts.