3 Chicago Cubs top 30 prospects make Myrtle Beach roster

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans - The Chicago Cubs' Low A Minor League affiliate - will open their season on Thursday April 6th at 7:05 EDT against the Charleston River Dogs. Earlier today, the team announced their 31-man roster and three of the team's top 30 prospects made the cut.

RHP Cade Horton (Cubs #4)

Perhaps most the most surprising addition to the Pelicans' roster is Cubs number 4 prospect Cade Horton. The 21-year-old Horton is a right-handed pitcher that has yet to throw a pitch in his professional career, meaning he is skipping over the Cubs rookie ball level in the Arizona Complex League and going straight to single A.

Horton was Cubs' first round draft pick in 2022, and he was taken seventh overall out of the University of Oklahoma. After returning from a Tommy John surgery in February of 2021, Horton's numbers last year were not great as he finished the regular season with a 7.94 ERA. However, the postseason is where he earned his high draft status and a $4.45 million signing bonus. In five postseasons starts last season, Horton struck out 49 men in 31 innings with a 2.61 ERA.

With a five pitch mix that he is still refining, Horton's fastball slider combination proved to be his bread and butter, with the former topping out at 98 mph and the latter vastly improving to become his primary strikeout weapon. The new slider culminated in an 11 strikeout outing against Notre Dame in the College World Series. We will see how long it takes for Horton to work his way through the Cubs' minor league system, but he has the pitch arsenal to be a starter if he can refine his secondary pitches like he did with his slider.

C Moises Ballesteros (Cubs #20)

Another young player at just 19-years old, Moises Ballesteros will be returning to Myrtle Beach after making it to the Single A affiliate in 2022. As a left-handed hitter, Ballesteros is projected to be a decent power hitter if he can continue to improve at the plate after having a breakout campaign in 2022. Ballesteros' transfer abilities need a lot more work though after he allowed 85 steals in 98 attempts last year. The young Venezuelan was signed as an international free agent in 2021.