Chicago Cubs Top Prospects: Midseason Top 30 Chicago Cubs Prospects (#10-6)

Number 6 

Cade Horton RHP

Age: 21 Years Old

Level: High-A South Bend Cubs

Joined the organization via: 1st Round Pick in 2022 MLB Draft

2023 Stats: 53.2 IP 3.19 ERA 78 K/16 BB

If I’m being honest, on the initial list I made of the Cubs top-30 prospects, I had Cade Horton higher than this. I was very pessimistic about the pick at the time in the 2022 MLB Draft, but I’ve been put in my place every single time he’s taken the mound this season. 

Let’s get the low-hanging fruit out of the way early. He put up sterling numbers against very young and inexperienced competition to start the year at Myrtle Beach. That being said, what I liked about Wicks is true for Horton as well, just to a greater extent. This season, Horton has struck out more than 13 batters per nine innings and limited the walks to less than three per nine innings.

Jed Hoyer and the Cubs recognized a lack of power hitting and power pitching and seemingly didn’t do much to take care of either of those problems at the major league level. However, with their draft picks and trade targets over the last two seasons they’ve done everything they can to homegrow that talent and Horton appears to be one of the fruits of that labor. 

He could be at Tennessee to start next season and if he does to Double-A hitters what Brown did to start this season then he could easily find himself in Iowa before the season is over with the possibility of making the big league Opening Day roster in 2025.