Cubs RHP Ben Brown suffers a setback with his neck injury, casting uncertainty on his return

Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune on Aug 26, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHOENIX — The Chicago Cubs hoped right-hander Ben Brown could return to the pitching staff by the end of the season and be a potential multi-inning weapon in the playoffs.

A setback is creating uncertainty for that vision.

Sidelined by a stress reaction in his neck since June 21, Brown threw his live batting practice Tuesday morning at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., in front of Cubs staff that included manager Craig Counsell and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy. If he had come out of the live BP, his second of the rehab process, feeling good, Brown would have started a rehab assignment in a significant step toward a return.

However, Brown suffered a setback Tuesday when he became symptomatic near the end of Tuesday’s two-inning live BP. His symptoms — the same as what he dealt with before — worsened as the day progressed. Brown will travel with the Cubs back to Chicago following Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks and be reevaluated.

“We’re going to have to kind of regroup, and he’ll probably check back in with the doctors and see what it means,” Counsell said. “He’s felt great and he’s felt so good that there’s been nothing there — there’d been no bad news. This is the first day of bad news.

“I’m not sure yet what this means, but it’s going to slow it down in some way.”

The schedule is starting to work against Brown. With 4 1/2 weeks remaining in the regular season and just 28 games left for the Cubs, there isn’t much of a window for Brown to get through his throwing progression, especially if he’s required to shut down again due to his neck symptoms. While the Cubs knew they couldn’t bank on Brown returning before the end of the year, the 26-year-old’s performance before the issue popped up was too dominant not to dream of having him for the postseason.

Brown was on his way to earning his first All-Star honor with a 1.85 ERA and 220 ERA+ in 20 games (eight starts) when his neck started bothering him following his June 19 start. The lingering ailment is especially concerning for Brown after the same problem cost him most of his 2024 rookie season, also initially cropping up in June that year.

When Brown initially went on the injured list two months ago, he acknowledged he might need to adjust something within his mechanics to avoid the stress reaction continuing to come up since it’s happened twice in three seasons.

“I could fix all my mechanics and do everything off the field to move better or to throw in a healthier way, but that’s not going to take away from the fact that the bone has to heal, so that’s the focus and priority No. 1,” Brown said on June 27. “And then we’re just navigating in the meantime what can I do that’s asymptomatic.

“Obviously it’s frustrating in the midst of a season where I’m doing some really cool things, but also I can’t lose sight of how talented I am and how much I can contribute, and ultimately that’s the end goal is to get back to that.”

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