Chicago Cubs: Latest round of cuts could signal a winner for the fifth starter spot

The Chicago Cubs will have their second Opening Day on March 27 when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks, where they’ll face their top two pitchers, Zac Gallen and Corbin Burnes.

The Cubs are coming off a brutal series in Tokyo, Japan, in which they dropped both games of the Tokyo Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers to start their season.

The series featured the Cubs playing sloppy defense and their pitchers clogging up the bath paths by allowing too many walks.

After the series, the Cubs made two more roster moves by optioning pitchers Jordan Wicks and Eli Morgan to Triple-A. Wicks optioning could signal a winner of the fifth starter battle.

A winner for the Chicago Cubs’ fifth starter

The Cubs had three players competing for the fifth spot in the rotation when camp started this spring. The three pitchers vying for the job were Ben Brown, Colin Rea, and Wicks, who is now out with his optioning.

Brown was considered the front-runner to win the job, and with Wicks getting optioned, it appears Brown won the job.

Browns’ rough first outing

Brown did make an appearance in the first game against the Dodgers, where he came out of the bullpen in relief of Cubs starter Shota Imanaga. Brown had an underwhelming outing, where the Dodgers roughed him up in his 2.2 innings of work.

In those 2.2 innings, Brown allowed three runs, two being earned, on four hits, walking three, and striking out five. Brown did manage to strike out Shohei Ohtani on a nasty curveball, which got him out of a jam.

“There’s the good Ben Brown. Strikes out Shohei Ohtani on three pitches.“

There’s the good Ben Brown. Strikes out Shohei Ohtani on three pitches. pic.twitter.com/VP6cwRlAGm

— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) March 18, 2025

Brown needs a third pitch

Brown will get another chance to bounce back and hopefully be better than this first outing. There’s a lot to build on in this outing, with the main thing being to stay out of the heart of the plate.

Brown has been working to get a better feel for a changeup, as he is just a fastball/curveball pitcher right now. In 2024, Brown used his four-seam fastball 63% of the time and his curve 36%, while he only threw his changeup 2%.

Having a third pitch is crucial for Brown to go deep into games. A third pitch would also make his fastball and curveball more effective and give hitters something else to have in their heads.

Brown’s fastball is relatively flat and sits around 95mph, which is average nowadays and won’t do much against big-league hitters if you don’t have other stuff to work off it. When facing Brown, hitters don’t have to fear that anything will run in on their hands for right-handed hitters since Brown works his fastball away and his curve darts down and away.

Having a changeup, which would break in on his arm side, would give right-handed hitters that fear of a pitch inside, so they’re not leaning over the plate sitting on a fastball away.

A bounce back for Brown

If Brown can add a changeup, either a seam-shifted change or the new ‘kick-change’ could be effective for him.

Doing so will elevate Brown’s game and make him a more effective starter who can go deeper into games.

Brown could see another outing out of the bullpen before he gets his first start, as the Cubs don’t need a fifth starter till later in April.