Top prospect Cade Horton is expected to make his MLB debut for the Cubs this weekend against the Mets
The Chicago Cubs are expected to promote top pitching prospect Cade Horton for his first Major League start this weekend in New York, according to a source familiar with the team’s plans. The club has not officially confirmed the move, which was first reported by the Des Moines Register.
Horton, 23, is ranked as the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline and sits at No. 46 on the Top 100 list. He has been pitching well for Triple-A Iowa and appears on track to join the rotation in the wake of Shota Imanaga’s recent injury. Imanaga was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier this week with a left hamstring strain, and he’s expected to miss at least a few weeks. Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledged that Horton was “an option” to step in following Imanaga’s absence.
Chicago opens a three-game road series against the Mets on Friday, with Jameson Taillon set to take the mound in the opener. Imanaga had been slated to start Saturday, but with the vacancy in the rotation, manager Craig Counsell is still weighing his options for that game. Horton, who pitched last Sunday for Iowa, would be on regular rest and is a likely candidate to fill the spot.
Counsell has also not ruled out the use of an opener depending on how Friday’s game plays out.
In his most recent Triple-A outings, Horton has thrown a career-high six innings in back-to-back starts, tossing 78 and 77 pitches, respectively. Across 29 innings this season, he has posted a 1.24 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks, while holding opponents to a .129/.241/.204 slash line. He’s allowed just 12 hits and two home runs. Horton has been consistently hitting 95–96 mph with his fastball, occasionally reaching up to 98 mph.
Drafted seventh overall by the Cubs in 2022, Horton owns a 2.79 ERA with 190 strikeouts in 151 2/3 innings since the start of the 2023 season. His time last year was limited to nine starts across Double-A and Triple-A due to a shoulder-related issue.
While the Cubs are carefully monitoring his workload and performance data, they reportedly don’t have a hard innings limit for Horton this season.
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If he gets the call on Saturday, Horton would become the latest highly touted Cubs prospect to make the jump to the big leagues, and a potential key addition to a staff navigating through early-season injuries.
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