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The injury to Cade Horton has been another case of the Chicago Cubs possibly tipping their hand with an issue within their medical staff. Horton was pulled from his final start of the regular season on Tuesday after only throwing 29 pitches. The initial belief was that Horton was recovering from an illness, and a coughing spell led to some back strain. In a concerning twist, Horton underwent an MRI on Wednesday and an ominous update on Thursday suggested that the Cubs got bad news.
Craig Counsell did provide an update on Horton before the Cubs' loss to the New York Mets on Thursday, but even in his update, Counsell only confused fans more.
Craig Counsell says “right now Cade is a go.” Says Horton is “on track still” but there are some “areas of concern” in the rib area. Will continue to get info and have more docs look at the MRI (no more tests will be run). He’s expected to throw tomorrow after taking two days off
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) September 25, 2025
Cade Horton injury saga takes weird turn and Cubs fans are puzzled
Sifting through the update, the Cubs still have the plan of pitching Horton in the National League Wild Card round but the MRI did show some "areas of concern". It's not often, if ever, "on track still" is lumped together with "areas of concern", but that just goes to the theme of the Cubs' season. The Cubs haven't been straightforward when it comes to injury management, and it's an issue that dates back to last season when both Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner played through injuries that were not revealed until after the season.
Breaking down Counsell's update, the impression is that the Cubs are concern with Horton dealing with a back injury, but the imaging of his rib cage suggest that there could be a cause for concern. A strange set of circumstances, considering the Cubs are sticking to their story that this is from a cough, but as of now, fans should be cautiously optimistic. As of today, the plan seems to be for Horton be on the mound for Game 1 against the San Diego Padres next Tuesday.
Depending on the health of Horton, the Cubs' rotation is suddenly on shaky ground ahead of the playoffs. Matthew Boyd has regressed during the second half of the season, and Shota Imanaga giving up 8 runs on Thursday night raises a massive red flag for a pitcher who was once considered to be the team's ace.