00:00I think it sounds like they're trying to figure out a way where he makes more starts.
00:04And I don't know that we can sit here and confidently say 6 or 8 or 10 or another one.
00:16I just don't know yet.
00:18Until we get more information, until they do find some diagnosis that isn't as serious as this one.
00:25You know, they had to shut him down a couple of years ago, right?
00:29That was the end of his season, I believe, in 2024.
00:36So this is not a good thing at all.
00:38If it's very similar and you're looking for another way of looking at it,
00:44I don't know at this point that we're going to see Justin Steele get a start this year.
00:53Or, frankly, Ben Brown either.
00:57That's interesting because I was kind of thinking the same thing.
01:01If we get Ben Brown back, and I think that's a big if depending on where they're at in a
01:07month,
01:07at least if I was running things.
01:08I mean, if they're double digits behind the Brewers in a month, let's just say, God forbid.
01:14But if that's the case, I don't know that I would throw Ben Brown again this year in a meaningful
01:20game.
01:21I don't know that I would get Justin Steele up.
01:23But, but, let's say they're within 5 or 4 a month from now.
01:28I could see Ben Brown and Justin Steele potentially having similar roles.
01:33Perhaps they're openers.
01:34Perhaps they're bridge guys.
01:36Perhaps they're what happened the other night on the south side.
01:38You have a three-run lead after six innings, and you bring in one of those two guys
01:44and see if they can finish out the game.
01:46They could go, you know, two and a two-third innings.
01:50You know, a Sean Newcomb type effort.
01:52Maybe that's what's going on.
01:53But I think a lot of this is about where the Cubs are at when the guys are quote-unquote
01:58deemed healthy.
01:59So, back in 2024, Ben Brown made his 20th and final appearance of the season on June 8th.
02:09And then he was shut down.
02:12So, that is bleak when that's used as a point of comparison.
02:17And that is sobering when you consider what exactly they're saying without saying it.
02:22Shutting somebody down for a month in the midst of a season for a pitcher,
02:26that means no activity, and then the ramp-up begins or resumes.
02:31Even if things go according to plan, health-wise,
02:35seeking a second opinion suggests that may be a murky health prognosis.
02:40If you're optimistic, I think you look at best-case scenario for this is Ben Brown makes five more starts
02:49or appearances.
02:50He comes back in September, the end of the month or the beginning of the month, about 20-25 games
02:56left.
02:57And maybe he's somebody that can contribute in that way at a time you might need it.
03:01That's best-case.
03:03Worst-case is you shut him down and there either isn't a need to come back or he's incapable of
03:09coming back.
03:10It's just so unfortunate because somebody who has committed himself to the kind of season Ben Brown was in the
03:17midst of.
03:18He had become, through circumstances, injury and otherwise, the Cubs' best starting pitcher.
03:24And now, now you can just hope for the best and that he gets an opinion and he can start
03:28the road back.
03:29But it's going to be something that is hard to see hope at the end of the horizon.
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