5 On It: Can Ben Brown be the stopper the Cubs need against the Braves?
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It's time for 5 on it. Rahimi Harrison-Grote. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104.3 The Score.
I got 5 on it.
This is Rahimi Harrison-Grote. We are broadcasting live from our Blue Cross Blue Shield performance stage where the grand prize drawing for our score sweet steaks giveaway is happening at the end of the 12 o'clock hour.
5 on it.
Number one. That's right. And this segment is sponsored by AlmostFreeTeeth.com. Save on dental implants today. Here's question number one. On a scale of one to ten, on the Ben Brown Confidence Index, trademark, where do you rate right-hander Ben Brown's chances at being the Cubs' stopper in tonight's series finale in Atlanta against the Braves?
You know, I like the measurement that is the Ben Brown Confidence Index, the BBCI, if you will. But here's my issue with the Ben Brown Confidence Index today. I think it is stopped by the CSCI, which is the Chris Sale Confidence Index.
That one is higher. It's a really good index.
It's really like the CSMEDI, the Chris Sale Mow Him Down Index. Oh. Because I feel like that's what he's been doing to opposing batters. So it's 6-2 with a .220 ERA and 56 strikeouts to his name already. Ben Brown, get through the first inning. Get through the first inning as best you need to do it because I know that that is his bugaboo. And he says if that sets him back, then everything else gets set back because of it. But the bigger issue may be, will he get any run support? Because with the way the Cubs have been hitting and the way that they haven't been getting on base enough, I just am not sure what's going to happen when Chris Sale might be on 10 tonight in Atlanta.
Here's the problem, Layla. Chris Sale has made eight starts. You mentioned the strikeouts. In those eight starts, only twice has he given up more than one earned run.
So on the Chris Sale mow him down index, that's pretty high.
And in those two starts where he gave up more than one earned run, guess what?
What are the Cubs' chances with Ben Brown against the Braves?
He lost. So I have a pretty good feeling that the Cubs are going to score more than one run off of Chris Sale. They're going to load up, and this is the advantage that Craig Council has with the depth of his lineup. They're going to line up all the righties and Ian Happ and put them out there. So Matt Shaw, come on down. Carson Kelly behind the plate. I feel like this is an opportunity for the Cubs to go down swinging. And I don't mean that in a swinging and missing situation. I mean, they're going to go down swinging. They're going to hit Chris Sale. They probably have about a 50-50 chance of winning this game. Ben Brown's not going to go deep. At the same time, as far as the index goes, I'll put it at a 6%.
So you're a little bit above average confidence. Yeah, I got a little confidence in Ben Brown. He's not going to match Chris Sale as far as innings go, but I think he can keep them hanging around. That's the goal here. Yeah, you know what I'm worried about is the fact that the Cubs pitchers in this series have been giving up big hits to the guys in this Braves order that you don't always expect to get the big hits. Like, yeah, it's Mike Yastrzemski, who had the big RBI double yesterday.
Mauricio Dubon.
Yeah, exactly. Had the big three, was it a two-run blast off of Phil Maton? And that's another thing. You know that they're going to be getting into the bullpen relatively early, unless there's a plan that I don't know about to stretch Ben Brown out a little bit more. As I said in the last segment, he has not thrown more than 50 pitches in a game this year, has Ben Brown. We all understand that he had been... a reliever and highly successful at doing that. So all of that to say, I'm at about a five here. I do think that the Cubs are going to hit Chris Sale today just because we don't expect it and weird things happen and the Cubs are due. So they may get to Chris Sale. But I'm also fearing that the Braves may put some runs up on the board, too, because it's not like they have the best offense in the league and they haven't exactly exploded in these first two games.
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