The Chicago Cubs have had a lot of issues with their pitching staff this season. Justin Steele has been out for a while, and Cade Horton is done for the season.

Edward Cabrera has been banged up for much of the season, and they have a ton of other issues on the team’s pitching staff, including in the bullpen. So, if the Cubs could get an elite pitcher for the postseason, they would instantly become very valuable.

That’s why Jim Bowden of The Athletic named 1.85 ERA right-handed pitcher Ben Brown, currently on the injured list, as the “X-Factor” for the Cubs in their postseason hunt.

Why Ben Brown can be ‘X-Factor’ for Cubs

“The Cubs have struggled with injuries to their pitching staff all season, and Brown’s return could provide some real stabilization for Chicago,” Bowden writes.

Getting Brown back would be huge for the Cubs. While Kevin Gausman, Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Clay Holmes, and David Peterson aren’t a bad starting five, adding another good starter would be a huge plus.

Cabrera is sticking in the bullpen for the rest of the year, and if Steele comes back, he’ll be a bullpen arm as well. The Cubs could really use one more good starter.

Gausman has a 4.58 ERA, and Boyd has a 4.02 ERA after allowing seven runs in 5.1 innings in his last start.

Imanaga has a 3.77 ERA on the year, while Holmes has a 2.49 ERA. Peterson’s 5.29 ERA is the highest, though come the postseason he’ll move to the bullpen.

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Brown, meanwhile, has a 1.85 ERA in 20 games and eight starts this season across 68 innings pitched. If he could provide that value to the Cubs’ rotation, he’d instantly become one of their postseason starters.

If not, he’d easily slide back into a bulk role out of the bullpen, where he could provide immense value later in games.

Getting Brown back from the injured list and having him pitch at a high level could be the difference between winning the NL Central title and not.

He’s very important for the Cubs, and as Bowden noted, he is their “X-Factor” for the home stretch of the 2026 season.

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