Counsell: ‘We need better,’ after another short start by Brown and Cubs loss
Do the Cubs need help for the starting rotation?
Good question. When the Cubs' own television station does segments on if they might be able to trade for a starting pitcher, that's one clue.
Another was manager Craig Counsell's comments after Ben Brown didn't complete four innings in Saturday's 10-4 loss to Philadelphia at Wrigley Field.
“We need better, frankly,” Counsell said. “To be a starter, it's the length in the game that we need more of.”
This was Brown's fifth start of the season. He's completed 6 innings once, and that was the 16-0 win over the Dodgers in L.A. He hasn't finished 5 innings in three of his last four outings, while the ERA has soared to 6.04.
“Yeah, I know,” Brown said. “The team needs better out of me, the bullpen needs a break. I was cruising toward that today and what happened just didn't seem like there was an end in sight, which is unfortunate.”
Facing his original team for the first time, Brown began with 3 scoreless innings. To start the fourth, he hit Kyle Schwarber with a 1-2 pitch. The Phillies followed with 5 singles, a mix of rockets and bloops, then Bryce Harper's 2-run double capped a 6-run inning. It would have been worse without a nice running catch in deep center by Pete Crow-Armstrong against Trea Turner. The ball had an 85% chance of being a hit, according to Statcast.
“As a starter, you've got to be able to navigate and limit damage,” Counsell said. “Give up runs, yeah, that's going to happen. But you've got to be able to navigate the damage to get your way into games.
“There have been some bright spots (from Brown) and there are clearly some good things there. But 3⅔, 4 innings — fortunately, we've had off days, but during the course of the normal part of it, that's going to hurt you.”
The Cubs rotation lost two pieces right away. Justin Steele is out for the year after elbow surgery, and Javier Assad is on the injured list with an oblique strain. So Brown got a chance to prove he belongs in the rotation and hasn't delivered yet.
“It's not going to be something where we're going to go reinvent the wheel,” Brown said. “I'm going to focus more on making sure I'm good to go for my next outing, and work on some stuff that needs to be worked on in my bullpen.”
Changes to the Cubs rotation do not seem imminent. Brown will likely get a few weeks to try to right the ship, but the bullpen has been taxed lately. Fortunately, this is where starting the season early with the Japan trip pays some dividends. The Cubs are finishing a stretch with four days off out of 12.
There are some in-house candidates if they need a new starter. Brad Keller was a starter most of his career and has been working out of the bullpen so far. Lefty Jordan Wicks had some rough moments in relief last week and is probably more comfortable as a starter.
In the minors, former White Sox right-hander Chris Flexen has been a star at Triple-A Iowa, posting a 0.40 ERA in four starts.
The wild card in the entire Cubs season might be Cade Horton, the 2022 first-round draft pick who missed most of last season with a lat strain.
He seems healthy this year. Through 17 innings at Iowa, he's piled up 23 strikeouts and allowed just 7 hits. He's been on a cautious workload so far, with just one game where he went as many as 5 innings.
Asked about the trade market earlier this week, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer admitted it's tough to pull off any sort of deal this far ahead of the deadline. Most teams are still wondering if they can contend for a playoff spot.
Maybe this was just an overdue dud for the Cubs (17-11), their worst loss since 8-1 at Arizona on March 28. They still have a chance to win the series against the Phillies on Sunday evening when Jameson Taillon faces Aaron Nola.
The Cubs didn't get their first hit against Philadelphia lefty Jesus Luzardo until two outs in the fifth, then capped the inning with a 2-run single from Seiya Suzuki. But reliever Ethan Roberts gave up 3 runs in the top of the sixth to keep the Cubs at a distance.
Suzuki collected 3 of the 4 Cubs RBI, while Jon Berti went 3-for-4 at the plate. Naperville native Nicky Lopez made his first official Cubs appearance in the ninth inning as a pinch-hitter and flied out to right.