Despite the Cubs’ 7-4 loss to the Brewers on Saturday at Sloan Park, Ben Brown’s stellar performance was the game’s most noteworthy aspect from the Cubs’ perspective.
Brown allowed two singles and a walk in four scoreless innings while striking out three batters. He demonstrated excellent movement in his pitches, good variety in them, and overall readiness for Major League Baseball.
In that video, pay particular attention to his K of Jake Bauers, which is the first one. Take a look at that pitch’s movement!
Though Brown’s season will begin in the Triple-A Iowa rotation, I have no doubt that he will make major-league starts this year. Recall that the Cubs acquired the 24-year-old from the Phillies in 2021 in exchange for half of David Robertson’s season. Might turn out to be a great bargain for Jed Hoyer.
For the first five innings of this game, it moved along quite quickly. In the sixth, the Cubs went ahead. Miguel Amaya walked with two outs, and Nico Hoerner blasted an RBI triple.
Even if the results of Spring Training are not very significant, Nico’s 6-for-41 (.146) start to the game was not good. In his three at-bats on Saturday, he singled and tripled, making strong contact each time—perhaps a positive indication.
I brought up the game’s speed. In the sixth, Daniel Palencia got himself into a lot of trouble after a walk and several hits, and the game came to an abrupt stop. Palencia eventually gave up five runs on this one, and he was replaced by minor leaguer Blake Whitney. Again, spring training outcomes, etc., but Palencia obviously needs to improve before making a move back to the major leagues.
Yency Almonte pitched a scoreless inning (1-2-3). In the sixth inning, Keegan Thompson, who the Cubs are hoping will return to form in 2022, let up a two-out home run.
Joe Hudson’s two-run home ball in the ninth inning brought the Cubs closer to victory than it had seemed. Hudson can bat; he has a 1.063 OPS in spring. Hudson spent a brief stint in the major leagues with the Angels, Cardinals, and Mariners from 2018 to 20. However, at thirty-two, there has to be a reason why he never made it to the majors. He will have the opportunity to play at Iowa as the “break glass in case of emergency” catcher.