'Under 95 MPH;' Cubs’ Ben Brown gets honest about 1st inning issues

This year, Brown has not fared well during the opening inning of ball games. Across 10 innings, he has a 9.90 ERA during the first inning, 2.20 WHIP, has allowed 14 hits, eight walks, and opposing batters are hitting .318 against him.

After the first frame, Brown tends to settle in. He has an ERA of just 0.90 during the second and third innings with just six hits allowed in each inning and a .167 batting average against. His ERA inflates again during the fourth and fifth innings, but these numbers show that Brown has not been sharp to begin games.

Velocity is a concern for Cubs’ starter Ben Brown during the first inning

Brown is primarily a two-pitch pitcher, with a four-seam fastball and knuckle curve being his bread and butter. With a smaller arsenal than most starters, velocity and execution becomes even more important to putting away major league hitters.

The trend on Brown during the first inning this year is that his velocity won’t reach 95 MPH at times and he doesn’t throw strikes as efficiently. Brown acknowledged this himself by telling the Marquee Sports Network “I’m getting so excited, so pumped up to pitch I’m losing sight of what I do best. And it’s like a mental [thing] not being able to throw strikes. There’s a real dynamic to the first inning of baseball games that is different than other innings.

Brown also acknowledged the dip in velocity by saying “My average heater to the first three batters throwing strikes I was under 95 [mph]. So, I’m trying to throw as hard as I can, and I’m throwing it slower. And then when I can finally get comfortable and something goes my way, then you start seeing my stuff start to play.”

How Brown’s command and velocity responds to coming out of the bullpen on Saturday will be worth monitoring. If using an opener proves to be effective, it may be something manager Craig Counsell utilizes more frequently when it’s Brown’s turn to pitch.