CHICAGO — Ben Brown has been part of a trade before and knows the excitement this time of year brings throughout baseball. He was acquired by the Cubs as a minor league pitcher from the Phillies for right-handed reliever David Robertson in 2022.

“It’s a fun time of the year for guys that are in High-A and Double-A and anticipating movement,” the Cubs right-hander said after their 12-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday night. “For a guy like me, I’ve obviously never went through a trade deadline at the big leagues before, and it’s just cool.

“It’s cool to be on a team that’s in a winning position, and I’m kind of just having my hands open to anything that’s coming down my way.”

But after another difficult outing at the major-league level (his first in nearly a month after being optioned to Triple-A), Brown’s objective is simple. He wants to make sure he’s still a contributor for a Cubs team that has suddenly dropped to second place in the National League Central and will be aggressively shopping for pitching before next Thursday’s trade deadline.

Brown allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits in four innings of relief in Monday night’s loss. The Cubs used an opener, right-hander Ryan Brasier, before turning it over to the 25-year-old for the bulk innings. The outing spiked Brown’s season ERA to 6.48, and he has allowed 12 home runs and posted a 7.15 ERA across his last 12 appearances. The Cubs are 5-7 in those contests.

“I got to start helping the team win,” Brown said. “I think that’s the most important thing. I’m kind of a non-contributor when things like [that] happen tonight and it’s unfortunate. Whatever opportunity is ahead of me, I’ve got to be better to earn that and to have that opportunity.”

Brown has struggled this year to turn over a lineup. Part of that has been his two-pitch mix — he throws his fastball 57.9% of the time and his knuckle curve 37.8%. His tertiary offering is a changeup that he throws just 4.3% of the time. Monday, five of his 63 pitches (8%) were his changeup.

That two-pitch-heavy mix has allowed the league to adjust to him and, as they see him more often, can find more success against him. In his first time through a lineup, opponents hit .254 off him with a .747 OPS. The second time through, that jumps to .290/.797 and balloons even higher to .377/1.078 a third time through.

The right-hander has shown flashes of being a solid major-league pitcher – he has 95 strikeouts in 83.1 innings, a 25.1% strikeout rate and has pitched six scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds. But the large samples of struggles are a concern, especially for a rotation that desperately needs length and quality.

The Cubs have a slight conundrum ahead of them. Brown’s spot in the rotation will come up one more time before the July 31 deadline, and Craig Counsell and the Cubs were mum about any decisions about that turn, which would likely come up this weekend against the White Sox.

“We got four days or five days until we have to do that,” Counsell said. “So, we’ll get together and figure out what the best way to try to win that game is.”

It likely won’t be a face from outside the organization that makes that start. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer emphasizes that, “the expectation always is that things happen the last couple of days. That’s just the nature of a deadline.”

That means Brown could still be in the mix to make another start or cover bulk innings after an opener (like Monday) even if rumors are swirling around about who could make more starts in the rotation after July 31. Brown, after all, could still be a factor as an “out-getter” for Counsell – potentially in shorter bursts, where his pitch mix could be more of a weapon.

“It’s just a fun time to be a Cub and a fun time for Cubs fans playing really good baseball,” Brown said. “It’s encouraging to be a part of it, and [I] just got to start helping out a little bit better.”