Let's Talk About Ben Brown's Latest Performance

The rookie right-hander earned the win after entering a tied ball game in the bottom of the fifth inning. He finished with a box score line of 3 ⅔ innings pitched, no runs allowed on two hits and one walk, to go along with six strikeouts. 

It’s not just Ben Brown's final pitching line that was impressive, but how he got to those results. For the night, Brown threw 22 four-seam fastballs and 16 knuckle curveballs. According to Baseball Savant, he induced 13 swings on those 16 curveballs, and 11 (!) of those swings were swings and misses. That’s an 85 percent whiff rate and a 68.75 percent swinging strike rate, for those that are curious. For context, Fernando Cruz’s split-finger fastball currently has the highest whiff rate in baseball at 64.4 percent. 

When Brown is at his best, he uses his fastball to fill up the zone and breaks his curveball down and away from a right-handed hitter or down and into a left-handed hitter. He was in the zone with his fastball 64 percent of the time on Friday night, his second-highest figure this season, behind only a brief seven-pitch outing against the Houston Astros last month. 

This, in turn, led to a 73 percent chase rate on his knuckle curve, his highest figure of the season, and also contributed to the super high number of swings and misses that he generated. Even the balls that were hit in play were mostly hit softly. After immediately giving up a 100mph single to Jared Triolo upon entering the game, Brown induced a pop-out, a lineout, and two groundouts sandwiched between his six strikeouts. 

Sure, it was one outing, and the Pirates aren’t a great offensive team. Per Fangraphs, their 81 wRC+ is just 27th in baseball, and their 24.6 percent strikeout rate is sixth-worst. However, their 29.1 percent chase rate is fifth best in baseball, and their 11.3 percent swinging strike rate is a little below average at 19th. Despite that, Brown still managed to induce a lot of chases and many swings and misses. 

It’s just really hard to look at what Ben Brown did on Friday night and not daydream about what he would look like in the bullpen full-time. With Justin Steele back, and hopefully Jordan Wicks not far behind, there will hopefully be no further need for him to start games. With the two-pitch mix that he currently possesses, it feels like he is tailor-made for the bullpen. 

According to Fangraphs, he has a 130 Stuff+ rating on his knuckle curve, where 100 is considered average. He threw the knuckle curve roughly 33 percent of the time as a starter. So far out of the bullpen this year, his knuckle curve usage is 39.3 percent. 

So not only is the bullpen where the Cubs currently need him the most, but it’s also where he can be the most effective. He can throw his best pitch more often and doesn’t have to worry about hitters getting too many looks at his two-pitch mix. It will also allow the Cubs to continue to monitor his innings. Notably, he has never thrown more than 94 innings in a professional season. So, here’s to seeing more of what we saw on Friday night: Ben Brown, bullpen ace.