PITTSBURGH — Ben Brown’s first major-league win came in a fitting fashion.
The Chicago Cubs right-hander has filled any role asked of him, whether out of the bullpen or starting games, as they navigate myriad injuries that currently includes seven pitchers on the IL. Manager Craig Counsell hoped to stay away from using Brown in Friday’s series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates in case the Cubs needed him to start Sunday.
However, right-hander Javier Assad’s rising pitch count, hurt by three errors behind him, forced Counsell to go to the bullpen with one out in the fifth inning Friday in a tie game. He called on Brown, who had not pitched since May 2.
The long layoff didn’t faze him. Brown didn’t allow a run in 3 2/3 innings while limiting the Pirates to two hits and one walk and striking out six on 38 pitches to earn his first win in the Cubs’ 7-2 victory. Brown was given the lineup card as a keepsake for the milestone.
“Ultimately the team’s winning, so it’s really cool being on a winning team,” Brown said Saturday. “To have that under my belt and behind me is really cool too. It’s a really good feeling.”
Since a tough big-league debut, Brown has posted a 2.12 ERA with 10 walks and 32 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings. Half of Brown’s walks this season came in his last start May 2 against the New York Mets when he issued five in 4 2/3 innings. Brown wasn’t too concerned by the walks in that outing.
“Of course some thoughts creeped up, like, ‘Oh, crap, here we go again,’ ” Brown said. “Like, this happened last year, what do I have to do? But live I’ve said a billion times, this is a different year, I’m making different adjustments. I’m not panicking. My bullpens weren’t extra special or anything … so I didn’t really do anything in particular.
“Last year was a mess and I’m grateful honestly, I wasn’t ready to make a debut last year for sure mentally. So much second guessing and whatnot and I wasn’t where I needed to be. Now it’s really cool to have that behind me and learn from it.”
Brown’s extended days off from game action clearly didn’t affect the sharpness of his stuff. He threw a couple of bullpens between outings to stay prepared as Counsell and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy kept him informed of the revolving game plan of when he might pitch next. Brown has relied on Hayden Wesneski and Adbert Alzolay and their experiences of moving between the bullpen and rotation as he navigates the challenge.
“It’s acknowledging that it’s not the easiest role to be in,” Brown said. “It’s nice, it’s kind of easy on your head — like, no, this isn’t supposed to be easy.”
The Cubs are going to be conscious of Brown’s workload as the season progresses after he pitched 92 2/3 innings in the minors last season, a figure he’s already one-third of the way to reaching with 4½ months left in the season.
“Sometimes rest is good for pitchers and with Ben, we have young pitchers that we’re trying to get through a seven-month season,” Counsell said. “It’s easy to think about today and tomorrow, but we’ve got to get them through August and September and so a little break, that’s great. … Ben came into a tight spot (Friday) and pitched really well.”
Brown’s versatility remains important as the Cubs lost another pitcher Saturday. Right-hander Yency Almonte went on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain. Right-hander José Cuas was recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
Almonte threw a scoreless eighth inning in Tuesday’s win against the San Diego Padres, but he didn’t recover after the outing. He took the next two days off from throwing, then played catch Friday at PNC Park, which Counsell said didn’t go well. There is no timeline at this point for his return.
Almonte becomes the 13th Cubs player to spend time on the IL this season. With Almonte, Counsell will need to find another high-leverage option after the 29-year-old righty pitched his way into earning more late-inning opportunities.
“It’s going to be different guys that’ll fill in,” Counsell said. “Our bullpen’s in a little bit of unique situation, but we’ve done a good job of adapting and the guys have done a good job of adapting to different roles and pitching in different spots. And we’ll continue to do that.”
The Cubs need Cuas’ command to be much better than he showed in his five appearances this season when he allowed eight hits, 10 runs and hit three batters in six innings. After joining Iowa, Cuas showed the swing-and-miss stuff that made him a valuable bullpen arm last year, striking out 45.9% of batters faced with 17 strikeouts and four walks in 8 1/3 innings.
Now back with the Cubs, Cuas specifically needs to be able to harness his sweeper more effectively, a vital pitch to his success. In his return Saturday, Cuas threw two shutout innings, walking one and striking out two in the Cubs’ 10-9 loss.
“He’s got to throw multiple pitches, being able to have multiple pitches as weapons is the key for José,” Counsell said. “As he’s trying to stick in the big leagues, that’s been the key for him.”
