In besting Paul Skenes, Cade Horton showed he's baseball's best pitcher right now

Is Cade Horton the undisputed #1 starting pitcher in Major League Baseball? No. At least, not yet. But he can certainly lay claim to that title right now, especially after the latest start in his insane second-half run that's mirroring Jake Arrieta's historic second half from a decade ago.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Cubs sent Horton to the mound opposite Cy Young candidate and reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes - and the 24-year-old right-hander delivered, firing five innings of one-run ball and punching out six in a 4-1 Cubs win.

Meanwhile, Skenes' inexplicable struggles against Chicago continued, with the Cubs roughing him up for three earned on seven hits in just 3 2/3 innings of work. As utterly dominant as the Pirates' ace has been early on in his big-league career, for whatever reason, the North Siders have been a consistent thorn in his side.

But we're not here to talk about Skenes. We're focusing on Horton, who, since the All-Star Break, has built a resume that, at the very least, puts him in the conversation for being the best starting pitcher in baseball. Again, the sample size is too small to give him top billing in general, but at this very moment, there are few pitchers capable of matching his numbers.

Cade Horton has pitched like peak Jake Arrieta in the second half

In 11 second-half starts, Horton boasts a 0.93 ERA and 0.789 WHIP - a vast improvement over his first-half numbers (4.45 ERA, 1.412 WHIP). He's turned into a true ace for Craig Counsell, so much so that you can't dismiss the idea of him getting the ball in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series in a couple of weeks, even though he's got all of 115 MLB innings under his belt.

“I love pitching in high-stakes moments,” Horton said. “I feel like it’s something I’ve loved my whole career. It’s a lot of fun to go out there and compete when you’re in the thick of it.”

The Cubs are proceeding carefully as the season draws to a close, keeping an eye on his workload in hopes of ensuring he's at his best come October. After Jed Hoyer failed to bolster the rotation at the trade deadline, many believed the rotation would be this team's biggest weakness. But the trio of Horton (11-4, 2.66 ERA), Matthew Boyd (13-8, 3.05 ERA) and Shota Imanaga (9-7, 3.29 ERA) have offered up cause for optimism with Chicago on the brink of clinching a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

When the Cubs drafted Horton with the seventh overall pick in 2022, the front office believed they had an ace-in-the-making. With how he's pitched down the stretch this season when it's mattered most, that certainly appears to be the case.