Big time prospect news this week for the Chicago Cubs, as they called up Miguel Amaya, the team’s top catcher in their minor league system, and then Matt Mervis was promoted on Friday. Both of those players are in today’s lineup against the Miami Marlins. Exciting stuff for sure, but the Cubs also had right-handed pitcher Ben Brown make his Triple-A debut on Thursday night and he was down right nasty.
The Cubs acquired Brown from the Philadelphia Phillies last summer, trading veteran reliever David Robertson for the young starting pitching prospect. Brown had decent results in the Cubs minor league system in the final couple of months to finish the 2022 season, but he is quickly ascending to the top of their farm system.
After allowing just one earned run in 20 innings to begin the 2023 season at Double-A, Brown started for the Iowa Cubs on Thursday against the Columbus Clippers, the Cleveland Guardians Triple-A affiliate. The right-hander got in a jam in the first inning, allowing a leadoff single and a bloop hit to the first two hitters.
However, Brown settled in and struck out Bo Naylor, who is ranked 56th in MLB’s top-100 prospects list.
Starting with that strikeout, Brown was as dominant as he was at Double-A, and after a one-out walk in the second inning, the right-hander retired 13 batters in a row before a two-out walk in the sixth inning.
Brown’s final pitching line was: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 2 BB.
Not too shabby.
And again, that came after Brown was dominating hitters with the Tennessee Smokies in four starts at Double-A prior to his promotion to Triple-A.
Ben Brown 4 starts at Double-A: 20 IP, 1 ER, 13 H, 30 K, 6 BB.
Brown, who will turn 24-years-old in September, may very well be knocking at the MLB door later this year with the Cubs. Even if he’s not needed in the starting rotation, we have seen the Cubs call up starting pitchers and use them out of the bullpen. Looking at Brown’s arsenal, you can easily see him find a role as a multi-inning reliever, or even come in to shut down a rally with his ability to miss bats with both his fastball and breaking pitches.
While Ben Brown was the big name that Cubs fans focused on when promotions were announced last weekend, left-handed reliever Bailey Horn was also called up to Triple-A. He made his Iowa Cubs debut on Saturday, pitching a perfect inning and he came in on Thursday after Brown’s 5.2 innings.
Horn threw another 1.1 scoreless innings and the lefty has incredibly allowed a total of three hits in 11.1 innings so far this season, while striking out 21 batters and walking five.
Horn, 25, might also make his way to Wrigley Field this season as he continues to shut down teams in the minors. In 2022, Horn had a 2.79 ERA in 51.2 innings. The Cubs acquired Horn from the White Sox in 2021, when they traded Ryan Tepera for him.
