Craig Counsell loves what he has seen out of Cubs rookie Ben Brown early on in his MLB career: 'He's pitched super well'

(670 The Score) Rookie right-hander Ben Brown has been exactly what the Cubs needed in each of his past two outings, and manager Craig Counsell is thankful for that.

As the Cubs are dealing with injuries to a pair of members of their starting rotation, the 24-year-old Brown has been sharp in throwing a combined 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball across his past two outings. The first of those two came on April 3, when he went four innings as the first bulk pitcher behind opener Luke Little in the Cubs’ 9-8 win against the Rockies.

This past Tuesday, in his first MLB start, Brown threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out five and walking one in the Cubs’ 5-1 win against the Padres. What was a big question mark in the club’s rotation after ace Justin Steele went down with a hamstring injury has remained an area of confidence.

“He’s gotten on to more of a schedule, which he’s accustomed to, and he’s pitched super, super well,” Counsell said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Friday afternoon. “He’s been a big deal. When you talk about injuries, he’s replaced Justin Steele’s innings, and he’s done a really darn good job with those innings. So that’s been a really pleasant surprise and really helpful and important, his development, just the first two weeks have been really important.”

Counsell will keep an open mind in how to best use Brown moving forward. That could include him going deeper into games when he’s more stretched out.

Either way, Counsell knows Brown has already been crucial to a team that’s off to a 7-5 start, as he played a big role in two of those wins.

“Injuries, we have to survive them,” Counsell said. “You know, none of ours are like really long-term right now. Guys are all coming back, so we should get some reinforcements as the weeks come.”