Saturday was a big day for Chicago Cubs faithful as it was the highly anticipated debut for top pitching prospect Cade Horton.
Craig Counsell went with Brad Keller as an opener against the New York Mets, but Horton entered in the second inning and ended up going four frames and earned his first Major League victory.
It wasn’t the cleanest of MLB debuts, but he flashed some real potential and he should be happy about his overall day on the mound.
The 23-year-old started out nice by catching Brandon Nimmo looking in a full count on a 96 mph heater. Not a bad hitter to catch for his first strikeout, as he has a career-low 16.1% rate this season.
Cade Horton records his first Major League strikeout! 👏 pic.twitter.com/bbgsFfR2p4
— MLB (@MLB) May 10, 2025
His first inning was clean and fewer than nine pitches. He hit a batter in the third inning, but he got through his first two frames without a score.
The fourth inning is when things started to get tricky. Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos each singled before Brett Baty got hold of a sinker and took it 386 feet for a three-run home run.
He picked up two more strikeouts in his last inning of work, including one on the $765 million man himself, Juan Soto.
Cade Horton is a 4seam and slider pitcher, but he struck out Juan Soto with a changeup here pic.twitter.com/8DLuz7LuIY
— Brendan Miller (@brendan_cubs) May 11, 2025
All in all, he went four innings, allowed four hits and three runs. He struck out five batters and didn’t walk any. His ERA is sitting at 6.75, which isn’t elite, but it was a fine outing overall.
Horton was already an elite pitching prospect entering the year. He was the seventh overall pick in 2022, but he has gone up another level since his first outing of the season.
Over his first six starts for Triple-A Iowa, he had a 1.24 ERA over 29 innings. He had given up just four runs and 12 hits. He had a 0.862 WHIP with a 10.2 K/9.
If he can continue working on that curveball and changeup, that four-pitch mix would be looking great.
The Cubs pitching staff badly needs him to contribute. Shota Imanaga is on the injured list and they have already lost Justin Steele for the season.
Since the Imanaga injury, the starting rotation has a 6.30 ERA, which is the third-worst mark in the league in that time.
Horton becoming a regular starter would be fantastic news for Chicago. There is a chance that he plays himself into staying in the Majors even after Imanaga comes back. He looks like he has the stuff to make it.
