This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CHICAGO -- Back in Spring Training, Cubs manager Craig Counsell predicted that rookie Cade Horton would find his way to the big leagues and handle important innings this season. Horton’s arrival in May was quicker than anticipated, but the righty stepped in when Chicago had a need and has not looked back.
Now, as the Cubs head into September with postseason positioning on the line, Horton is an emerging Rookie of the Year candidate in the National League and will be taking the ball as a key piece to the team’s pitching staff.
“It means a lot,” Horton said. “But at the end of the day, you just have to go out there and shrink the moment down like it’s just another baseball game. It’s another outing. I feel like when you kind of make the moment bigger than what it is, that’s when things get out of hand. So, it’s just shrinking the moment and making it about one pitch.”
That is a mature mentality for a 24-year-old pitcher who has appeared in only 19 Major League games to date, but that has been a theme this year for Horton. Counsell has described the young righty as a “clear-headed competitor” similar to veteran starter Justin Steele.
Counsell said that is an impressive trait for a rookie.
“Absolutely. I think that’s probably why I’ve said it so many times,” Counsell said. “You kind of hear it from the other side once in a while. So, it’s kind of noticeable to the other team, too, kind of how he’s going about his business. And that’s a real credit to Cade.”
Since July 1, Horton has turned in a 1.34 ERA, which was second among qualified MLB pitchers in that span, trailing only Trevor Rogers (1.19 ERA) of the Orioles entering Sunday. For perspective, NL Cy Young favorite Paul Skenes has logged a 1.92 ERA in that same time period. Horton has allowed one or fewer runs in eight of his 10 starts in that stretch.
Those 10 starts are particularly notable, given that it is a run that immediately follows Horton’s rough road outing (seven runs in four innings) against the Astros on June 27. The righty was blunt in his self-assessment after that game and went to work on identifying what went wrong, including admitting to being caught up in the playoff-like environment.
“He quickly recognized, ‘I got out of my process,’” Cubs veteran Matthew Boyd said. “I’m sure it was very palpable in the moment. But in the next five days, the ability to course correct and have that honest conversation about, ‘This is what I did, this is what I wish I did, and this is how I can correct it going forward,’ we’re seeing the fruits of it. He’s just been on such a roll since.”
The Rookie of the Year field in the NL is crowded with no clear favorite at the moment, giving Horton a chance to further assert himself in that race.
In a recent MLB.com poll, Braves catcher Drake Baldwin garnered the most votes, but the Brewers have a few contenders in Isaac Collins, Caleb Durbin, Chad Patrick and Jacob Misiorowski. Jack Dreyer and Hyeseong Kim of the Dodgers are in the mix, along with a handful of others around the league.
If Horton stays on his current pace – the righty is currently 9-4 with a 2.92 ERA in 98 2/3 innings – he could continue to see his stock climb as the Cubs close in on a playoff berth.
“What he’s been able to do is so impressive,” Boyd said. “You throw in the fact that he’s a young pitcher on top of that and you go, ‘Wow, I wish I had the maturity that he has at that age.’ It took me multiple years to gain that maturity. He’s been integral for us. There’s no other way to say it. We wouldn’t be where we are without Cade.”