Believing He's the Best Version of Himself, Ben Brown Lands the Best Role for His Future

Ben Brown doesn't lack confidence. The tweaks he made this winter changed the righty's profile as a pitcher, and he firmly believes that he's tapped into the fullness of his potential for the first time.

"This is the best I have ever http://been," Brown told 104.3 The Score's Bruce Levine earlier this month. "It should be clear to anyone [who] has watched me. So regardless of anyone’s opinion of me, it shouldn’t change how I feel about myself.”

That comment spoke to Brown's fierce desire to be part of the big-league team as they head north this week, and on Monday, that wish was fulfilled. The Cubs optioned Javier Assad to Triple-A Iowa, shortly after having reassigned Corbin Martin and Collin Snider to minor-league camp. Brown has made the Opening Day roster, as the team's second long reliever. He and Colin Rea will be the team's fallback starter options, as well as going multiple innings at a time out of the bullpen when needed. Assad will be assigned what would have been the alternative role available to Brown, serving as a starter in Iowa and staying ready for an injury that might shelve one of the team's top five starters.

Brown's sinker garnered lots of attention right from the start of camp this year, and it seems to have transformed his game in an interesting way. More important than the addition of the sinker, though, is the fact that his fastball has sat at 97 MPH this spring, after averaging under 96 MPH last season. His heater works so much better at the higher end of his velocity range than at the lower end that seeing his velocity tick up carries more weight than it would for a typical pitcher.

That's borne out by the results he's achieved this spring, despite what seems like a degradation in shape on the four-seamer that has diminished his grades within some stuff models. Here's a comparison of his stuff from 2025 to what he's shown this spring, in a vacuum.

Interestingly, in studying video, Brown doesn't seem to have lowered his arm slot this year, which makes it somewhat difficult to explain the loss of carry on his four-seamer and the decreased depth on his knuckle-curve. With the sinker in the mix, though, the four-seamer is running less to his arm side, so there's more consistency in his shape. Brown appears to be less focused on maximizing extension and getting down the mound this year, having exchanged some of that intensity of movement for better posture at release. That's led to better command and the newfound ability to differentiate the sinker from the four-seamer.

As a result, while each pitch might grade worse in certain computer models, Brown is missing more bats this spring. The difference lies as much in the variability in locations he can reach with his altered arsenal as in the sheer power or intensity of his stuff. Here's where he located each of his pitches against both lefties and righties in 2025.

Here's where he's located his pitches this spring.

That he's locating the four-seamer higher than he did last year (to both lefties and righties) only makes it an even more intriguing mystery that he's getting less carry, because on average, the higher a pitcher's target, the higher their induced vertical break will be. However, it also underscores that Brown's change in posture and mechanical efficiency increases his ability to hit specific targets, and the introduction of the sinker creates a whole different look for right-handed batters than he offered last season.

This is the best version of Brown—not just (or even mainly) because of the new pitch, but because he's throwing harder and locating better at the same time. He did that all spring while stretching out with an eye toward starting, so if he can get the fastball to tick up still higher in relief—without giving back the improved control and execution—things can go another level higher. For now, the Cubs made the right choice, because Assad is the guy who needs to stay ready for a mid-season rotation assignment. Brown, if things go perfectly, should stay in the bullpen and continue to cultivate the improvements we glimpsed this year during Cactus League play.