MIAMI -- The Cubs’ No. 2 prospect showed just why he’s so highly touted in a stellar outing Wednesday afternoon at loanDepot park.
Cade Horton had his full arsenal on display for the Cubs in his second start of the season, breaking down hitters with his top-flight fastball and keeping them off balance with offspeed offerings in the Cubs’ 2-1 victory over the Marlins.
Horton struck out three hitters in all (two on changeups, one on a curve) over 5 1/3 frames while giving up six hits, three walks, and allowing one run in the first inning.
“I had a good feeling for it,” Horton said regarding his use of the changeup, “and so I just started relying on it. You know, some days, you’re going to be like that. Not swinging much at the slider, and so you’ve got to find another pitch to get ‘em out on, and it came up huge for me.”
“He gained some confidence,” manager Craig Counsell said on the pitch. “I think he threw it a little bit more … and knowing that as you go through these lineups, that third pitch is really important, he needs it. We need it, and he got some confidence in it today, which is a big, big step.”
Offensively, Kyle Tucker was the game-changer for Chicago. He belted a first-inning homer for the second straight game, marking his 12th of the season.
Tucker has been smoking baseballs lately. He’s 6-for-8 over the last two games, while his eighth-inning single Wednesday helped plate Matt Shaw for the go-ahead run. The hit didn’t net Tucker an RBI (it was officially ruled an E7 after Kyle Stowers bobbled the ball in left), but his offense put Miami over the hump in a tight one-run game.
The Cubs have Horton to thank for Miami’s low offensive output.
But in the first inning, he found himself in a predicament. Horton gave up a pair of singles, before walking Otto Lopez to load the bases. Connor Norby slapped a first-pitch sweeper to third baseman Shaw, who made a tough play to stab it, but his throw pulled Michael Busch off of first base to give Norby an RBI single.
Matt Mervis hit another scorcher in the next at-bat, but Nico Hoerner saved his pitcher with a diving stop of his own, getting Horton out of the inning.
In the second, he faced another jam with runners on first and second, and no outs. He earned a double-play chance on a dribbler to the mound, scooping it with ease and firing to second to start the relay. He retired Agustín Ramírez on a lineout to escape the inning with a man on third.
“I love PFPs,” Horton laughed. “It’s fun for me. I feel like I’m actually getting to play the game, not just up there pitching. So yeah, it’s fun getting comebackers and getting over to first.”
Horton’s a fluid athlete, coming from a two-sport background in Oklahoma. A star quarterback for Norman High School, he committed to the University of Oklahoma’s baseball team, with plans to walk on to the football team.
He ultimately stuck with baseball, making the College World Series with OU as a redshirt freshman, and was the Cubs’ first-round selection (seventh overall) in 2022. In 2 ½ seasons in the Minors, Horton went 8-6 with a 2.79 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 190 strikeouts. He was an MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2023, and made the All-MiLB Prospect Second Team the same year.
The 23-year-old showed his poise again in the third, coaxing a flyout from Mervis with two men on to end the inning, He settled into cruise control in the fourth, setting down seven of his final eight batters, before Counsell pulled him one batter into the sixth.
“He just kept making pitches,” Counsell said on the rookie’s confidence. “I thought he got strong as the game went, and got confident as the game went on. But in the first couple innings he had to make some stressful pitches, and he did so. So [it was a] good sign, it was an impressive start. He got into the sixth inning, so he did a really nice job.”
“I think me and [catcher Miguel Amaya] did a great job today of just working together,” Horton said. “… Just attacking the strike zone, and attacking it with intent, trying to be around the corners and not so much middle. I think we did a good job of that.”