Cade Horton's latest start should have Cubs fans salivating about future

Since making his MLB debut on May 10, Cade Horton has fluctuated between encouraging performances and worrisome starts.

Coming off the worst appearance of his rookie season against the Houston Astros — when he allowed seven runs, four walks, and two home runs in four innings in a losing effort — Horton had a lot to prove with the Cubs seeking rotation reinforcements at the trade deadline.

Well, in his latest turn through the rotation, Horton assuaged a lot of doubts. The right-hander twirled seven shutout innings, striking out five hitters while allowing just seven harmless baserunners.

If the top pitching prospect can continue to build on his latest effort, he may pitch himself into the team's playoff rotation.

Cade Horton displaying fastball-changeup combo that could propel him to ace status

Following news of Jameson Taillon's injury, the Cubs are going to acquire at least one starting pitcher at the trade deadline no matter what Horton does prior to July 31.

However, his performance against the Guardians does offer hope that the frontline partner for Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd the team is looking for may already be on the roster.

Facing a lefty-heavy lineup, Horton threw his four-seam fastball over half the time (48 of his 90 pitches), using his changeup as his primary secondary offering (28% usage rate). He generated just two whiffs on 22 swings against his fastball, though he did get 10 called strikes and threw it in the zone 52% of the time. His changeup, meanwhile, generated a 53% whiff rate and just one called strike.

It's a rather old-school approach, but it's one that works really well for a guy with breaking pitches as devastating as Horton's. We know he can get righties out with ease with his brilliant sweeper-curveball combo; if he can target lefties with a changeup that plays really well off his fastball (both in terms of velocity and pitch tunneling), then he could become wildly effective against every opponent in short order.

For the season, Horton now has a 4.15 ERA (4.28 FIP) in 52 innings, pairing a meager 16.9% strikeout rate with a rapidly-improving 7.1% walk rate. His chase, whiff, walk, and ground ball rates are all in the 65th percentile or above among all MLB pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched.

Considering the up-and-down nature of Ben Brown's development, Cubs fans shouldn't expect Horton to go on a Jake Arrieta circa-2015 run anytime soon. However, if he can build on what he showed versus Cleveland, Chicago will be in far better shape with their rotation than most expected.