Shutting down Ben Brown is the latest detour for the Chicago Cubs’ young pitchers

Right-hander Ben Brown’s timeline to rejoin the Chicago Cubs has become murky.

Brown has been shut down “for the time being,” manager Craig Counsell said Monday, while he continues to experience symptoms in his neck. He won’t start throwing again until he is fully symptom-free.

The neck issues have plagued the 24-year-old since he was diagnosed in June with a “benign area of concern.”

“We just weren’t making progress,” Counsell said before the Cubs’ 9-8 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. “So he is not throwing right now.”

While Counsell didn’t have an estimated time frame for when Brown might resume throwing, he did not call it a season-ending situation.

Until the setback, Brown had been playing catch regularly. In late July, Counsell estimated that Brown would need roughly two weeks to build up and be ready to pitch once he advanced to the next stage of his throwing progression because he had been keeping his arm moving since he went on the injured list June 9.

Instead, it’s unclear when — or if — Brown will be able to help the Cubs this season.

Brown told the Tribune in late June that his diagnosis typically features a two- to three-month burnout period, and doctors believed at that point he was already roughly one month into that phase.

“I want to pitch through anything, I want to be out there,” Brown said then. “It could have been X,Y and Z. And luckily, it’s none of that stuff. It’s just something that randomly is there. I couldn’t have done anything about it. It wasn’t in my preparation, it’s not in my posture, it’s just there.”

The Cubs appeared poised this season for their young pitchers to take important developmental steps. Instead, it has been one ailment after another for pitchers who were positioned to help this year and potentially grow into a bigger role in 2025.

Left-hander Jordan Wicks (right oblique strain) has been on the IL since June 15 and finally made his first rehab appearance with an affiliate Saturday at Triple-A Iowa. If the Cubs bring him back as a starter rather than use him in relief, Counsell estimated Wicks would need three more rehab starts before being activated.

Right-hander Hayden Wesneski (right forearm strain) has been throwing more aggressively while rehabbing in Arizona and is expected to pitch off a mound this week.

But the Cubs’ top prospect, right-hander Cade Horton, is likely done for the season because of a setback with his subscapularis strain.

“Is it frustrating for the players? Of course it is,” Counsell said. “From our perspective, we just have to plan accordingly and do our best, from a medical standpoint, to minimize as best we can.

“But the positive light is none of the things in our eyes that have happened are really of a serious nature, of a real long-term nature. We anticipate them either having a shot to get back at the end of this year or being perfectly healthy going into next year.”

All four of those pitchers figured to play some role on next year’s team, though their injuries and the impact on their innings pitched in 2024 raise some questions as to how much they can be realistically counted on.

Brown has thrown 55 1/3 big-league innings, while Wicks has been limited to 28 innings over seven games (six starts) because of two injuries. Wesneski, floating between starting and relieving, sits at 61 2/3 innings. Horton had reached Triple A for the first time in his pro career, where 18 of his 34 1/3 innings this season were recorded over five starts.

For as much as the Cubs did due diligence at the trade deadline in looking to be opportunistic, holding on to right-hander Jameson Taillon, who is under contract for two more years, makes a lot of sense despite this mix of young, intriguing starters. There is still value in pitchers like Taillon who are largely durable and reliable and possess major-league experience.

Younger, less experienced pitchers must prove they can be relied on at the big-league level. No matter how many high-upside arms the Cubs attempt to develop, pitching depth, especially among starters, will remain incredibly important. These injuries could make the roster evaluation process more challenging in the offseason.

“They’re all names that will be under consideration next year,” Counsell said. “But the injuries matter as to where you think about them going into next year.”