Chicago Cubs top pitching prospect draws rave reviews from teammates

The Chicago Cubs’ hand was forced when they called up top pitching prospect Cade Horton.

Justin Steele had been lost for the season, sidelined by elbow surgery. Shota Imanaga was down with a hamstring injury, with no clear return date in sight. Javier Assad had been transferred to the 60-day IL with his ongoing oblique issues.

The Cubs rotation had done a great job of staying stable and functioning, led by free agent acquisitions Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea. But there was zero question that the team needed another quality arm to fill out the rotation.

And while Chicago’s starting pitching needs grew, the 23-year-old Horton was killing it in Triple-A Iowa, posting a 1.24 ERA in six starts while striking out nearly a third of all batters faced.

Ready Or Not, Here He Comes

Ideal timing or not, the move to bring Horton up to the majors had to be made.

He made his debut May 10 in New York, against the hard-hitting Mets. In an effort to swerve around the team’s heavy artillery, the decision was made to not start him. He did, however, pitch 4 innings in most inhospitable territory, allowing 3 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 5.

His first actual start would come on the 16th against the Chicago White Sox in what would be a 13-3 rout in favor of the North Siders in the swirling winds of Wrigley Field. He would pitch 5 innings this time out, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits with 2 strike outs.

So Far, So Good For Cade Horton

All in all, Horton’s first major league start– and second win– went well. In difficult circumstances, he stepped up and kept his composure, bent by situations at times, but never broken. In 11 major league innings, he’s also yet to walk anyone.

When asked about Horton’s performance, specifically about the young talent aggressively attacking the strike zone, Cubs manager Craig Counsell saw it as a definite positive.

“That’s a good sign,” Counsell told media at the post-game press conference. “On a day like today, you want to make team earn everything…You’re gonna give up some runs, but you pitch like that and you make them earn it.”

Horton’s teammates were similarly impressed.

“His stuff was loud,” said center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had 6 RBIs in the one-sided game. “He did an absolutely outstanding job of minimizing any sort of damage. I hope he liked his first taste of Wrigley. He’s going to do this for a long time.”

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson shared Crow-Armstrong’s assessment.

“The one thing that really, really impressed me was just his mound presence in New York,” Swanson told reporters, referring back to Horton’s showing against the Mets. “Anyone can dive into the stuff and say, ‘Oh, it’s really good.’ The velocity’s back up. The breaking ball’s always been really good. You can measure that kind of stuff.

“But there’s something about his presence on the mound. The game never felt fast for him. He seemed to want the moments. Those are the things that you really want and need to see. He was obviously pretty locked in for that. I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

Chicago Cubs Drafted Character

Horton was the Cubs’ first round draft pick in 2022, raising some eyebrows because, at the time, he wasn’t too far removed from the 2021 Tommy John surgery he had as a college freshman in Oklahoma. Last season, he was shut down in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder.

Despite limited innings in pro ball, Horton was regarded as the top pitching prospect in the Cubs organization and the no. 35 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB.com, at the time of his call-up.

Prior to Friday’s start, Counsell affirmed Horton’s character while also acknowledging that the young man is still a work in progress.

“He’s a really good competitor,” Counsell told media. “He wants to be great. Those are good attributes…He’s been through some adversity, despite being this highly thought of prospect. He went through some big adversity last year and I think that’s a good thing. Growth comes from those places. But he’s still new at this job, at being a professional baseball player and you have to realize that, you have to acknowledge that…There’s a lot of room for growth here, despite having a lot of success.”

Ready or not, the future is now for Horton.

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