ST. LOUIS — The Cubs bullpen is receiving a major boost and is sending down a struggling arm in the process.

The team announced Tuesday that they activated right-hander Porter Hodge from the 15-day injured list and optioned right-hander Ben Brown to Triple-A Iowa to make room on the active roster. Hodge has been out since May 18 with a left oblique strain.

[MORE: Ben Brown’s outing raises questions about state of Cubs’ rotation]

Hodge was the team’s closer at the end of last season and was one of manager Craig Counsell’s leverage arms at the start of the season after the team acquired veteran Ryan Pressly in the offseason. He was elevated back into the closer’s role after Pressly’s blowup outing against the San Francisco Giants on May 6. Pressly allowed nine runs — eight earned — in the 10th inning.

The right-hander Hodge had a 5.12 ERA in 19.2 innings across 21 outings before the injury – but those numbers are a bit misleading. He has allowed 11 earned runs this season and nine of them came across two outings. That’s an 0.98 ERA across the other 18.1 innings this season.

Hodge provides the bullpen a fresh arm and, given the success of leverage arms like Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller, Caleb Thielbar and closer Daniel Palencia, could be eased into action in lower leverage situations.

Brown’s demotion comes a day after his most recent rough outing. The 24-year-old allowed eight earned runs on four, two-run home runs in the 8-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. He has a 6.13 ERA in 79.1 innings across 16 games (14 starts) this season.

[MORE: What we learned in series opening loss to Cardinals]

Brown knew this was a possibility – he had seen players like Shota Imanaga and Hodge arrive in St. Louis on Monday.

“Yeah, I mean some of that is going to be in the back of my mind,” Brown said after the Cubs’ loss on Monday. “Obviously, when guys show up in the locker room, they need spots to pitch. It’s hard.”

After briefly speaking to the media, Brown sat on one of the sofas in the visitors’ clubhouse alone and scrolling through his phone. It’s a contrast to how he’d been after other starts. Usually, he talks with Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd or some of the veterans after his appearances – regardless of the result.

“It just all happened really fast,” Brown said. “It’s really frustrating. It’s going to be tough to sleep tonight just knowing I was that close to something really good tonight and just as fast it all went away. So it’s hard.”

Now, Brown will head down to Iowa to fine-tune his mechanics and try to get back on track. The nature of the major-league season means that the right-hander will still be a factor for the big-league club in 2025 and making sure he looks like the pitcher who dominated the Los Angeles Dodgers in April would be a positive step in the right direction.

“There’s going to be some ups and downs and there’s some growing pains in some areas, but he’s got really good stuff and he can pitch at this level,” catcher Carson Kelly said on Monday night. “I think that’s just part of being a young player.”