Chicago Cubs Set To Call Upon Top Pitching Prospect Cade Horton

Cade Horton is about to make his much-anticipated MLB debut for the Chicago Cubs. The hard-throwing right-hander is expected to be called up and face the New York Mets tomorrow.

The 22-year-old’s timetable was derailed by injury a year ago. Six strong starts at Triple-A Iowa in 2025 gave the organization confidence to say he’s ready for prime time now.

“He’s just continued to get better from start to start,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told Jordan Bastian of MLB.com earlier this week. “And he’s been consistently good down there. He’s sort of built off a good spring training, but his last couple starts were better than the first couple starts down there.

“He’s been going six innings and throwing well. He’s done his part in Triple-A.”

Horton had a 2-1 record and sparkling 1.44 earned run average at Iowa. In 29 innings he yielded only 12 hits, struck out 33 and walked 13. The Cubs hope he can bolster a rotation that has lost all-star lefties Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga to injury.

Steele, 29, is out for the season after having left elbow surgery in April. Imanaga strained his hamstring last Sunday. Manager Craig Counsell said the 31-year-old would likely be sidelined more than two weeks.

That leaves off-season signing Matthew Boyd (3-2, 2.75 ERA) as the lone lefty in the rotation with Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.86 ERA), Colin Rea (2-0, 2.43 ERA) and Ben Brown (3-3, 4.95 ERA).

Horton will become the seventh player picked in the first round in 2022 to make the Majors. He got $4.45 million to sign as the seventh overall choice out of Oklahoma. He missed his entire freshman season recovering from Tommy John Surgery, then as a redshirt in 2022 went 5-2 for the Sooners, fanning 64 in 53 2/3 innings.

Despite glowing scouting reports, Horton was not drafted as a high school senior because he made it known that he wanted to play both baseball and football, where he was a highly touted quarterback. He never threw a pass for the Sooners. He also played third base and some shortstop at Oklahoma, batting .235 in 54 games overall.

Cade Horton Scouting Report

Horton is ranked as the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect, No. 8 among right-handers and No. 46 overall by MLB Pipeline. No. 1 prospect Matt Shaw opened the season with the team at third base.

Scouts love his elite slider yet showed concern this spring that his fastball would not come back to life after he had been shut down in May 2024. He did not have surgery and rehabbed a sore shoulder for months.

The heater has hit 98 mph this year. That’s the good news. He still needs work commanding his curve and changeup, however. “He starts throwing those two for good strikes, he’s an ace,” said a scout for an NL rival club. “I don’t mean just in the strike zone, but in the right part of the zone.”

Horton’s slider developed at just the right time to make the best impression during the 2022 college post-season. He supposedly was changing grips on the ball, just experimenting, and suddenly threw a pitch that dipped about a foot. He kept throwing it and got a lot of strikeouts – leading to Oklahoma advancing to the College World Series and Horton getting his lucrative contract.

Horton has a smooth, easy motion that enables him to have good control overall. He just needs to throw his off-speed stuff more to get a feel for the pitches – without experimenting with them at the wrong time and getting lit up by MLB hitters.

He’s still an unfinished pitcher and is going to have to learn at the highest level. That’s a tough task, though the Cubs believe Horton has the mental endurance to push through it. The best find a way.

Past Cubs Phenoms

The only Cubs pitcher to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award was Kerry Wood in 1998. Horton is good, but should not be compared to Wood, who at age 21 fanned 233 over 26 starts with a 13-6 record that year.

Wood blew away batters with a superb fastball and devastating changeup. Horton has good stuff, but not as good. Wood had arm surgery, returned to the rotation for five years then became an all-star closer.

In 2002, Mark Prior finished seventh in rookie voting. A year later, he went 18-6 and seemed destined for greatness. Injuries kept it from happening. He went 42-29 over five seasons, retiring at age 25 following a 1-6 record and painful 7.21 ERA in 2006.

Another Cubs right-hander did not accomplish much over his first two seasons: a combined record of 8-18 and 5.58 ERA. Like Horton, he had mental toughness. Over the next 21 years, he compiled a 347-209 record, won four consecutive Cy Young Awards and is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Greg Maddux really was that good.

Wood, Prior and Maddux were three right-handers who had vastly different MLB experiences. All had success and failures. Horton will, too.

The Future Of Cade Horton

The 6-1, 210-pounder has a bright future, even if he struggles initially in Chicago. He has the physical ability AND mental toughness to succeed.

He should have the benefit of a strong offense and reliable defense behind him. Both can erase some mistakes made by Cubs pitchers.

Cade Horton simply needs to do what he can and should succeed. He’ll be told, “don’t try to do too much, let the game come to you, be who you are.” Every young player hears that. Some do it, some don’t. All anybody can do is watch and see.