CHICAGO — Ben Brown’s 2025 season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster.

To begin his second MLB campaign, the Cubs’ lanky, 6-foot-6 right-hander was named the fifth man in the rotation ahead of the team’s U.S. opener in Arizona. It was a well-earned opportunity for Brown — he had a 3.23 ERA in the eight games he started in 2024.

Lately, that starting role has not been kind to him. In 2025, Brown’s ERA sits at 6.39 after 10 starts and 50.2 innings.

He’s struggled to provide length in each of his last two starts, allowing six earned runs through 4.2 innings in Miami and eight earned runs through 4.1 innings in Cincinnati. Those performances raised concerns about whether Brown can handle the responsibilities entrusted to him at the start of the season.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer believes that he can.

“Putting it in context right now, he’s really important to us,” Hoyer said of Brown. “Sometimes, that’s the nature of young starters and their struggles.”

With Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad on the IL, the Cubs don’t have many rotation options. Jordan Wicks is the lone starter remaining in Triple-A but he was just placed on the 7-day IL Monday. The bullpen boasts a pair of veterans who have MLB starting experience (Chris Flexen, Brad Keller) but neither is stretched out enough given their short-relief outings and they have both found success out of the bullpen.

Simply put, the Cubs don’t have many alternatives if they did want to remove Brown from the rotation.

There’s no question Brown has the ability to step up when it counts. He’s done it before, Hoyer pointed out.

“We’ve seen him have a dominant start at Dodger Stadium. We’ve seen it in Milwaukee,” Hoyer said. “He’s gone on the road, played in tough places to win and pitched great.”

Brown showed what he was made of in the Cubs’ 16-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 12, striking out five and not allowing a single run over six innings of work. When the Cubs visited the Brewers on May 2, Brown again delivered a spotless, six-inning performance as the Cubs went on to win 10-0.

“I’m doing a lot of things really well — and obviously, I’m doing a lot of things poorly,” Brown said Wednesday. “It’s really only been (the last) two starts.”

Brown has been able to generate a lot of swings-and-misses this year, an upside that’s tallied him some high-strikeout games. He fanned nine San Francisco Giants on May 7, a season-high and one short of his career high. Even on days that he’s struggled — like in Miami — he still collected eight strikeouts.

Those sorts of starts have been a pattern for Brown this year, where he’s opened a game cleanly and seen it derail the deeper he goes. It happened against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 26, when he gave up six runs in the fourth inning.

“He was electric for three innings and pitched poorly in two of them,” Hoyer said. “That obviously has to smooth out, but it also takes reps up here to do that. It’s a matter of finding that consistency.”

Brown had mentioned before that a main goal of his was to stretch his starts to provide length. On April 19 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he threw 100 pitches and gave up just one earned run on three hits, but he also walked four batters and was pulled after four innings. At the time, Brown said he needed to “continue to battle.”

[READ: What Cubs’ Ben Brown learned watching Zac Gallen pitch]

Brown is still carrying that mindset, even as things haven’t gone the way he wanted them to. For him, the only way out is through.

“(I’ve learned) the importance of, ‘you can fix your problems,'” Brown said. “How are you going to do that? You can’t mope around.”

What’s helped Brown is the support of pitching coaches Tommy Hottovy and Casey Jacobson, as well as his teammates.

“I’m leaning on those guys,” Brown said. “It’s been a collaborative effort to put together good days, get in good starts, good endings and a good recovery. They’ve been a great help.”

Brown mentioned Steele specifically, who is out for the season but is making every effort to connect with his teammates while he recovers.

“Having Steele back has been great, too,” Brown said. “(He) has been through some awesome baseball stuff and some tough baseball stuff. It’s good to be around those guys.”

Steele and Brown each endured that “tough baseball stuff” over the opening weekend against the Texas Rangers in 2024. Steele injured his hamstring in his first start. The next day, Brown made his MLB debut in relief, which ended after just 1.2 innings. He allowed six earned runs on five hits.

It was a nightmarish beginning to a career for Brown, but he bounced back. He knows how to process those kinds of outings better now than before.

“I have a bit of a different perspective on things, and I’m looking forward to taking that,” Brown said of his most recent start. “It’s already been a better week, so I’m moving forward.”

Just as Hoyer emphasized the importance of Brown to this Cubs team, the young right-hander said he feels it deeply. For someone who was drafted in the 33rd round, he’s already done more than he thought he would.

“It’s probably the first time in my career I’ve felt I’m being given a shot despite the results. I feel like I’ve always kind of had my back against the wall, just from where I came from,” Brown said of the trust he’s received from the Cubs front office and coaching staff. “To consistently have people come up to me and just remind me of the things I’m doing well, and push me to do better and give me opportunities — I’m so grateful to even have a locker today.”