Cubs farmhand's start to the season should have fans excited for rotation help

Even if Justin Steele hadn’t landed himself on the IL with what many, many people are worried is a season-ending injury, it’s clear that the Chicago Cubs were going to need more rotation help at some point this season. 

Now that Steele is on the IL, the first backup could be Jordan Wicks if it’s not Colin Rea or Javier Assad. But there’s someone down on the farm that fans are excited to see make his big league debut at some point this season. 

Cade Horton is coming back from his own injury, so he likely won’t be with the Chicago Cubs all that soon, however, if his first two starts for AAA Iowa are any indication, it appears he’s going to be up with the big club at some point in 2025. He could even be up by the middle of the season.

In a lot of ways, Horton’s first two starts have been about as good as Cubs fans could have expected. His return from injury means that he’s taking it slow, and Iowa is being careful with him, but he’s been pretty dominant so far.

Cade Horton's 2025 development just became an important storyline for the Cubs season

While he lasted just 3.1 innings against the Indianapolis Indians, he allowed just 1 hit, no runs, and struck out 6 batters. In his second outing, he went a bit farther, throwing 4 innings, allowing just 3 hits and again striking out 6 hitters. His 12 Ks and 1.23 earned run average over 7.1 innings in two starts are already things to be excited about.

But even better than that, he’s throwing with some serious velocity. In his first start, he topped out at 97.9 MPH and averaged over 96 on his fastballs. He also allowed just one hard-hit ball in those 3.1 innings.

His second start saw him topping out at almost 98 once again and while his average was lower, that was to be expected as he wears down while starting to build up. He also once again had just one hard hit ball.

If there is something Horton needs to work on before he hopes to get a call to Chicago its his accuracy. he’s averaging a walk per inning, which is of course, not sustainable for success in the Majors. 

Considering that Horton is still coming back from a shoulder injury that limited him to 34.1 innings across two minor-league levels last season, there’s still obviously work to do. But for now, Chicago Cubs fans should be excited about the results. If he can keep it going and continue to build up strength, they’ll see him in Wrigley in the very near future.