Chicago Cubs prospect Cade Horton cracks MLB Top 100 Prospect list

MLB announced that the Chicago Cubs 2022 1st round pick Cade Horton has made their top 100 prospects list.

The announcement comes after the graduation of the Baltimore Orioles top prospect Gunnar Henderson, who made the opening day roster last week. Horton now ranks 100th on the list and joins fellow Cubs prospects OF Pete Crow-Armstrong (27th), OF Kevin Alcantara (86th), and OF Brennan Davis (91).

Horton was selected seventh overall by the Cubs in 2022 after he turned heads in the College Baseball World Series while pitching for the Oklahoma Sooners. Despite having an abysmal 7.94 regular season ERA, Horton tweaked the delivery of his slider and transformed it into a strikeout weapon to complement his blazing mid-90s fastball. This two-pitch combo proved deadly in the postseason last year, culminating in a 2.61 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 31 innings pitched. This performance made the 21-year-old fly up draft boards and land him at the top of Jed Hoyer's draft haul last year.

Horton's addition to the list comes days after he made the Cubs Low A Myrtle Beach Pelicans team. Horton effectively skipped over Rookie Ball and is looking to make a quick ascension through the system with his large 6'1 frame and ever-evolving five-pitch mix. If he can develop his secondary offerings, Horton projects to be a rotation piece at the big league level.