Manager Craig Counsell didn’t leave much mystery when he was asked Friday whether right-hander Ben Brown is expected to remain part of the Cubs’ starting rotation.
‘‘That’s the expectation, yes,’’ he said.
But the Cubs will do something different with Brown, 25, who has struggled to the tune of a 6.39 ERA in his 11 outings this season, 10 of them starts.
The Cubs will start left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz on Saturday against the Reds. Pomeranz, who hasn’t allowed a run pitching out of the bullpen, figures to work as an opener ahead of Brown, whom Counsell said ‘‘will be involved,’’ even though he’s not getting the start.
The Cubs described Pomeranz as the ‘‘starter’’ for Saturday, rather than an ‘‘opener.’’ But considering his longest outing of the season has been 1„ innings and he has faced no more than five batters in any appearance, he doesn’t figure to pitch too deep into the game, allowing Brown to have a chance at a regular starter’s workload.
Brown, meanwhile, sees a bothersome trend that the use of an opener might help to combat: He hasn’t been very good in the first inning. He has a 9.90 ERA in the first this season.
The key, Brown said, might be toning down the adrenaline and relaxing on the mound.
‘‘If you look at my first innings, just having those grind at-bats, not being there, not being locked in — whether mentally or physically — just not doing what I do best, that really sets me up for failure later in the game,’’ Brown said Friday. ‘‘The focus is really: ‘What’s going on in the first, and how do we adjust there?’
‘‘I’m just getting so excited, so pumped up, I’m losing sight of what I do best. . . . Ultimately, I probably need to take a step back and let myself play. That’s tough for me because I’ve always been a guy — I just want to get on everything. But usually when I go to an 11 out of 10 instead of 10 out of 10, I suck.’’
Brown has given up 14 runs in his last two starts, including eight to the Reds his last time out.
Is an opener the solution? Even though Counsell focused specifically on how it will help the Cubs on Saturday, it seems the team is open to the experiment on days when Brown starts in the future. Counsell, however, was quick to add the Cubs would be open to using an opener with other pitchers, if necessary, as well.
However they do it, getting Brown right is important for a team with designs on playing deep into October.
While the North Siders can count several starters who have made a positive impact this season, they entered play Friday ranked 19th in the majors in starters’ ERA (3.95). That number jumped to 4.06 after Colin Rea gave up six runs in a 6-2 loss.
With Justin Steele out for the season after elbow surgery, Shota Imanaga in the middle of an elongated stay on the injured list with a strained hamstring and Javier Assad yet to throw a major-league inning while dealing with a strained oblique, starting pitching remains an area of concern.
President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office figure to be on the hunt for arms before the trade deadline, but the Cubs have leaned on internal fixes so far. Pitchers such as Rea and Cade Horton have stepped up and contributed, and Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon have been strong.
Brown, however, has been something of a weak spot in the rotation to this point. Solving his problems might go a long way toward shoring up the Cubs’ starting staff leading up to a playoff run.