CHICAGO — A familiar face is rejoining the Cubs’ pitching mix.

The club announced that they recalled right-hander Ben Brown from Triple-A Iowa prior to Monday’s series opener against the Kansas City Royals. In a corresponding move, the team optioned right-hander Ethan Roberts to Iowa.

The 25-year-old Brown began the season in the Cubs’ bullpen for the two-game Tokyo Series but was in the rotation when the domestic slate began. He started fairly well – after allowing 11 runs (10 earned) in his first three appearances, he settled into a groove, pitching to a 3.60 ERA over his next six starts (30 innings).

But he hit a rough patch after that.

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Brown permitted 32 earned runs over his next seven appearances (37.2 innings), for a 7.65 ERA. He was optioned after allowing eight runs on nine hits across five innings in an 8-2 loss to the Cardinals on June 23.

The option to the minors was two-fold: it would allow the Cubs to manage Brown’s workload and to work on some of his mechanics and pitch offerings. Brown suffered a neck injury in 2024 that limited him to 55.1 innings, and he’s never pitched more than 104 innings in a professional season.

The right-hander has electric stuff – he has 91 strikeouts in 79.1 innings this season (25.3 strikeout percentage) and went pitch-for-pitch with Detroit’s Tarik Skubal – the favorite for the American League Cy Young Award – tossing seven innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts.

He also pitched six scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in April and pitched scoreless innings against the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, the latter after the Cubs used an opener in front of him.

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The Cubs’ rotation has been decimated by injuries this season. Shota Imanaga, the Cubs’ Opening Day starter, missed six weeks with a hamstring injury. Justin Steele, the Cubs’ co-No. 1 starter to start the year, underwent season-ending elbow surgery in April. Jameson Taillon is currently on the 15-day injured list with a calf strain. Javier Assad hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors this year as he’s dealt with an oblique injury.  

Jed Hoyer and the Cubs’ front office will undoubtedly be hunting pitching as the July 31 trade deadline nears, but until then, arms like Brown are crucial to weather the storm. Taillon’s spot in the rotation hasn’t been filled – Chris Flexen started the series opener against the New York Yankees before the All-Star break – and the team announced Sunday that right-hander Ryan Brasier would serve as the opener on Monday against the Royals.

Brown figures to be the top option to cover the bulk of the innings on Monday.

Roberts, 27, has a 6.00 ERA in 10 appearances this season for the Cubs. He allowed a run on a solo home run in Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Red Sox. The right-hander has a 2.74 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 23 innings for Iowa this season.