Cade Horton dazzled in Spring Training, showcasing ace-caliber stuff. Witness his dominant outing and burgeoning potential for the Cubs' rotation.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton is going to be an ace in the Majors.
Horton showed glimpses of that ace potential late in the 2025 season when he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball after the All-Star break. The right-hander had a 1.03 ERA and 54 strikeouts across his final 12 starts.
While Horton won’t put up those kinds of numbers throughout the 2026 campaign, he has the potential to establish himself as an ace in Chicago’s rotation this season. The sky is really the limit for the 24-year-old in Year 2.
That was shown in Monday’s Spring Training start against the Cleveland Guardians. After giving up six earned runs in a spring start against the Texas Rangers on March 10, Horton bounced back like any star pitcher would.
He allowed one run on three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. This was arguably Horton’s most dominant outing in a Cubs uniform, and those 10 strikeouts tied his career-high in his professional career. He also struck out 10 batters back in 2023 while pitching for High-A South Bend.
Monday’s Spring Training start was one of Horton’s most dominant performances with the Cubs. As a matter of fact, that start might have been the best outing across all pitcher performances this spring.
The 24-year-old induced 21 whiffs across his five innings pitched. His four-seam fastball topped out at 98.6 mph, and no Guardinas hitter was able to touch his changeup. Horton totaled 11 swings and misses on his changeup throughout this start.
Everything was working for Horton in this outing. He had a 51% whiff rate on the Guardians’ 41 swings, and seven of his 10 strikeouts came on his changeup. The Cubs pitcher also generated 13 called strikes in the game.
Now, this outing did come in Spring Training, so this start doesn’t actually count for anything. Horton faced a large majority of Minor League players in Monday’s start.
Still, it showed Cubs fans two big things about Horton. He has the talent to bounce back following rough outings and has the potential to shove on the mound in any given start. Those two things will help the pitcher blossom into an ace.
There is a strong chance that Horton becomes more dominant in 2026. More of these performances could be in store for the right-hander, especially since he ranked in the upper half of the league in chase rate (29.5%) and whiff rate (25.8%) last year.