3 pitchers who will have expanded roles after Caleb Kilian's injury

3. Cade Horton

Cade Horton was the Cubs' first-round draft pick from 2022, and he stormed his way through the minor league system in his first year in professional baseball in 2023. In 21 starts across Low--A, High-A, and Double-A, Horton amassed 88.1 innings and 117 strikeouts with a stellar 2.65 ERA. By May or June, Horton will likely have already made his way to Triple-A where will be knocking on the big-league door.

I don't think Caleb Kilian was a massive roadblock in Horton's path to the big leagues, especially if he continues to dominate as he did last year. But Kilian's injury certainly removes one more name from the starting pitching depth for the time being.

Horton is very highly regarded by experts, and three of his pitches have earned plus grades from MLB pipeline. At just 22 years old, the sky is the limit for Horton as the big league team is in need of an ace-level hurler.

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