SAN FRANCISCO – Cubs right-hander Ben Brown threw off the Oracle Park bullpen mound on Wednesday, a promising step in his journey back from a neck issue that has run the gamut of expected recovery timelines.
Brown has been on the injured list for a little over two weeks. An early diagnosis of a stress reaction called for six weeks of down time. But after a series of follow-up evaluations, doctors agreed that Brown had a “benign area of concern,” on the left side of his neck, changing his timeline.
“Really grateful,” Brown said Wednesday. “Usually you don’t have that. Usually it’s something worse. … Flat ground [throwing] has felt really good. My neck’s felt really good. I’m not waking up hanging anymore. A little bit of a slow grind back, but definitely not as bad as what we were looking at the first time.”
The rookie, who began the season in a reliever/starter hybrid role, had been a regular rotation member for four straight turns when he landed on the IL. He was also on pace to blow past his professional career-high in innings well before the end of the season. So, the IL stint, while not ideal, could have advantages down the road.
“My hips, my shoulders, my elbows, everything feels really good,” Brown said. “So if it gives me a couple of weeks of downtime to be ready to be primed in October, whatever it takes.”
10 years
The team got together before playing the Giants on Wednesday to mark Kyle Hendricks reaching 10 years of service time.
“You think about the people that are around you,” Hendricks said Tuesday night. “You think about your family, the sacrifices they have to make for you to do it for that long. Your agents, your coaches, teammates, everyone you’ve come across that made me better and continued to help me make adjustments and gotten me through this amount of time.”
On the current roster, only Hendricks and left-hander Drew Smyly have accrued 10 years of service time, a milestone players hold in reverence.
“You’re just part of such a small crew,” right-hander Jameson Taillon said in a conversation with the Sun-Times.
He used Wrigley Field to contextualize the rarity. About 23,250 players have reached the major-leagues.
“That’s not even a sellout,” Taillon said. “And that’s really cool to think about. And then you think of all the players who have played 10 years.”
They make up fewer than 10% of those who have made it to the majors, according to the MLBPA.
“And then to do it all with one team, that’s an even smaller crew,” Taillon said. “So Kyle is now part of a very select small crew, which is pretty cool. For me, his is extra special because he’s not the most talented dude in the room; he’s just self made. … It’s not like he just bullied his way to 10 years. It’s not like he out-talented people. He worked his way for 10 years, which is really cool.”
Hendricks joins Ernie Banks (1953-1971) and Stan Hack (1931-1947) as the only players in the modern era who have spent their whole major-league careers with the Cubs and accumulated 10-plus years of service time.
Tauchman progressing
Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman (strained left groin) went through an agility workout in the Oracle Park outfield on Tuesday.
“He’s just gradually increasing activity,” Craig Counsell said. “He’s been active in the [batting] cage, just swinging lightly. So just trying to stay as active as he possibly can. While the healing is going on.”
