Chicago Cubs’ Cade Horton: Rookie of the Year and so much more

When it comes to Rookie of the Year honors, he appears to be leading the pack this year, ahead of Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin and putting up the kind of numbers that would affirm his favorite status.

Back in 2014, for example, Jacob deGrom had a 9-6 record in 22 games with a 2.69 ERA and took the award with 95% of the vote.

Overall this season, Horton is 11-4 in 22 games so far with a 2.66 ERA. Since the All-Star break, though, he’s been insanely good, logging a 0.93 ERA.

“Look, Cade, he deserves that recognition,” manager Craig Counsell recently told MLB.com. “And he absolutely should be in that conversation. And he’s absolutely deserving. That’s what he’s earned. And there’s no question about it — he’s earned it.”

Steadying the Chicago Cubs’ ship

ROY or not, his second-half success story, in many ways, has helped steady a Cubs team that had been brimming with inconsistencies and uncertainties leading into the final half of the season.

Chicago has now clinched a playoff berth for the first time since the abbreviated 2020 season and they seem to be on their way to taking the top seed among Wild Card teams. But this team easily could’ve folded early on after some legit bad luck.

Things actually looked quite bleak very early in the 2025 campaign. Ace starter Justin Steele went down for the season with an elbow injury after just his fourth start of the year and, just about a month later, co-ace Shota Imanaga was forced on to the IL with a hamstring injury. Starter Javier Assad had also been injured in spring training and didn’t seem anywhere close to a return.

Ironically enough, however, the Imanaga injury would end up opening the door for what has been a saving grace for the team in general and for the starting rotation, specifically.

The story so far

Horton came to the big leagues sporting the tag of a top prospect rushed along by necessity. There were caveats everywhere about the Cubs’ 2022 no. 1 draft pick, who had missed most of 2024 in Iowa due to injury. The belief was that he was still a work in progress and that 2025 may eventually see him return to Triple-A for further seasoning before a serious run at major league success next year.

At the All-Star break, the caveats seemed to on the money.

While Horton had shown himself to have mound maturity beyond his years and high-end stuff, there were still some inexperience-related inconsistencies. At the All-Star break, he was 3-3 with a 4.45 ERA in 11 games.

Things have certainly changed since then. Although the Cubs have been careful to take care of his young arm by watching his pitch count, Horton has become the team’s key starting rotation piece as Matthew Boyd runs through a series of subpar outings and Jameson Taillon looks to put his two IL stints behind him.

As the playoffs approach, the rookie will be asked to take on an even greater role of importance as one of the featured starters in the upcoming three-game Wild Card series.

Characteristically, Horton wants all the smoke.

“I love pitching in high-stakes moments,” Horton recently told MLB. “I feel like it’s something I’ve loved my whole career. It’s a lot of fun to go out there and compete when you’re in the thick of it.”