The Chicago Cubs seem to be deep enough when it comes to starting pitching.
The front four of the rotation– Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, James Taillon, and Matthew Boyd– should be rock-solid. The candidates for the fifth rotation spot– Javier Assad, Ben Brown, Colin Rea, Brad Keller, and Jordan Wicks– showcase the depth the Cubs have.
All of this takes tons of pressure off the organization’s top pitching prospect Cade Horton and those entrusted with developing him into a high-end major league starting pitcher.
Cade Horton’s Setbacks And Lessons Learned
The Cubs’ 2022 first-round draft pick saw his 2024 season shut down in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. It was the second serious injury of his comparatively short pitching career, as he had Tommy John surgery in 2021 as a college freshman in Oklahoma.
This most recent injury, though, was exasperated by his attempt to pitch through the pain. That dubious decision served as a lesson to the young talent.
“I’m always the guy that’s wanting to go until I break,” Horton said at the Cubs Convention in January. “Just having those people around me to be like, ‘No, let’s do the smart thing. You have a whole career ahead of you.’ That’s what I’ve really learned. You should say something and get right, because it’s hard to go out there and pitch if you aren’t feeling good.”
Given medical clearance to resume pitching at 100% this offseason, the 23-year-old is back to fine-tuning his pitching game while, at the same time, tweaking his mechanics to avoid another physical setback.
Chicago Cubs See Big Things For Horton In 2025
With his raw talent and continued health, Cubs manager Craig Counsell expects Horton to get the call to the big league at some point during the season.
“Now it’s taking steps forward and a lot of it’s going to happen on the other side and just keeping that same focus and build up,” Counsell recently told Marquee Sports Network.
“At some point in the season, we got to call Cade Horton up. That’s kind of how you want it to feel.”
The Cubs farm director Jason Kanzler is also bullish on Horton, expressing the belief that the right-hander is very close to being major league ready.
“In terms of pitching years, he’s very young,” Kanzler told MLB.com. “He’s not accumulated a ton of time on the mound. At the same time, he is one very short step away from being in Chicago. It’s tricky. He’s going to have to learn to manage all those things.”
“There are some mechanical changes that seem to be sticking that we’re fairly confident will help him stay healthy. I think he’s in a great spot. Getting a few lives under his belt was really good for him and his mentality. It kind of reaffirmed, ‘Not only can I do this, but I am very good, I’m dominant.’”
The Future Is Bright
What the Cubs saw when drafting Horton as a young pitcher with not a lot of innings under his belt is panning out. By all accounts, he is the real deal and many have taken notice.
Josh Illes of North Side Baseball, for instance sees a star:
“When I look at Cade Horton, I see an ace. He’s the best Cubs pitching prospect since Mark Prior. Many folks have said both of those things; I’m not the first, but whenever I hear that, my mind immediately goes to the fact that if that is true, then Horton is the best prospect in the system…His stuff is electric.”
The question mark with Horton is centered around his ability to stay healthy. If he can keep pitching and developing, the Cubs could have a major asset taking the mound every fifth day– and they could be reaping the benefits sooner than expected.
Highly anticipated Chicago Cubs game cancelled
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