Ben Brown’s struggle doomed Easter Sunday for the Cubs

Easter Sunday should have been a celebration for the Chicago Cubs. Instead, it turned into another painful reminder of the team’s most glaring flaw. After taking a 3–0 lead in Game 2 of their doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians (The Cubs barely won 1-0 in Game 1), the bullpen unraveled. They coughed up the advantage and lost 6–5. What should have been a momentum‑building win became another chapter in a troubling early‑season pattern.

After starter Edward Cabrera lasted five innings in Game 1, the Cubs were forced into using Caleb Thielbar, Hoby Milner, and Daniel Palencia. As the offense tried to hold on to a 1-0 lead, they were in survival mode as the bullpen had to absorb innings. Chicago escaped Game 1. But the bullpen entered the second game depleted.

In Game 2, Ben Brown came into the game with a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning. But his command wavered, and Cleveland capitalized, ruining Shota Imanaga’s decent outing. His erratic outing forced Counsell to turn to a bullpen that had already been pushed to its limit. 

The Cubs regained a 4–3 lead in the 7th, thanks to a home run by Ian Happ, who was 0-for-7 (including six consecutive strikeouts across the doubleheader). But Jacob Webb surrendered the advantage almost immediately. The Guardians then took a 6-4 lead in the 8th. In the end, the Cubs had blown two separate leads and turned a winnable game into a 6–5 loss.

This sealed a miserable end to the holiday doubleheader.

Game 2 loss puts the onus on both Craig Counsell and Jed Hoyer for Chicago Cubs

The president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, has the fans very excited about his recent aggressive moves, such as signing free-agent Alex Bregman and re-signing Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner. However, the jury will always be out on Hoyer as long as the bullpen keeps blowing games. This bullpen was a calculated gamble — a mix of bargain arms, rebound candidates, and internal options. Despite his immense potential, Ben Brown continues to frustrate the fans. How long can they put up with his inconsistencies?

Meanwhile, Webb and Phil Maton, two of his offseason acquisitions, have not done their job either. 

Craig Counsell is the highest‑paid manager in baseball history at $8 million per year. That price tag comes with expectations. But right now, the Cubs are last in the NL Central with a 4-5 record. The Cubs aren’t meeting their high expectation yet. Every time a bullpen implodes like in Game 2, every decision he makes is magnified. Fair or not, the criticism will only grow louder, and his bullpen decisions will increasingly come under scrutiny.

The post Ben Brown’s struggle doomed Easter Sunday for the Cubs appeared first on ChiCitySports.