Cubs pitcher Ben Brown's debut sparks first-game stories from Kyle Hendricks, Justin Steele

ARLINGTON, Texas – On the plane to Texas Saturday morning, Cubs right-hander Ben Brown scrolled through old photos of himself, staring into the face of the 17-year-old who the Phillies selected in the 33rd round of the 2017 draft.

“It's pretty crazy,” he said Saturday, before the Cubs’ blowout loss to the Rangers. “Sitting next to my wife. It's unbelievable to really put it all into words. But just a lot of thankfulness and gratefulness for a lot of people that the Lord put in my life along these last seven years.”

Brown’s parents were also in town for his debut.

The results didn’t follow a fairy tale narrative. Brown was charged with six runs in 1 ⅔ innings. But his teammates dug up their own major-league debut stories.

“That first thing was nails,” veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks said Saturday night of Brown’s debut. “Some things happen, starts going fast on you. My first inning, I walked three guys and gave up three runs. There's a lot that happens there. It was so cool to see him out there. He's going to have such a long career, man. Get comfortable up here, and this is just the first of many.”

Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Sunday that he was reviewing the game with Brown when lefty Justin Steele came over and said that when he debuted, he didn't know where the ball was going and couldn’t feel his hands.

“Such a good group of guys that we have,” Hottovy said. “They pull for each other, they know, they've been there. And part of what [manager Craig] Counsell talks about, about developing young players in the big leagues, is knowing you're going to struggle at some point, you're going to hit some adversity. And when you know that, and you recognize that, you go through and see what you did – yeah, it was six runs, but it could have been one, it could have been two.”

If the Cubs defense had come up with any of the three singles that the Rangers hit hard right at fielders in the eighth, the inning could have played out much differently.

“Understand that, what’d you do really well, and then just keep building from that point,” Hottovy said.

Brown wore number 32, a nod to Hall of Famer Roy Halladay. Brown, who grew up in New York, saw plenty of Halladay’s Blue Jays in the 2000s. And after the Phillies drafted Brown, he got to work with Halladay, who was a mental skills coach for the organization’s minor-leaguers training in Florida.

Wisdom targeting road trip

Corner infielder Patrick Wisdom (strained back) took live batting practice on Saturday and is “still progressing the way [the Cubs] want him to,” Counsell said.

The team is targeting the second half of their upcoming West Coast road trip to activate Wisdom. The Cubs play the Padres, Mariners and Diamondbacks April 8-17.

Taillon throws bullpen

Right-hander Jameson Taillon (back strain) threw a bullpen at Globe Life Field Sunday morning before the series finale against the Rangers.

“He looks great,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said. “We're hoping this [injury] was just a one blip on the radar thing, because since then, he's been recovering well and throwing his bullpens well.”