Chicago Cubs Star Catcher Praises Rookie Cade Horton’s MLB Progress

The impending return of injured Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga means the Cubs must decide what to do with rookie Cade Horton.

He hasn’t made the decision easy.

Since he was promoted on May 10, he is 3-1 with a 3.73 ERA in eight games, (seven starts). He has 31 strikeouts and 10 walks in 41 innings and is allowing batters to hit .269 against him.

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He was roughed up a bit in his last start against Seattle on Saturday, as he only went 4.2 innings. He gave up seven hits, three earned runs and two walks against two strikeouts.

But, for the most part, his performance has turned the heads of Cubs fans and teammates like Carson Kelly, who has caught most of his games.

He talked with Marquee Sports on Sunday about what he’s seen in Horton’s short time in the Majors.

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“Yeah his awareness and the communication before games,” Kelly said. “The understanding [that] you know hey the wind is blowing out, you know there might be some stuff that goes down that you know may not seem fair but at the same time you’ve got to stay locked in and control what you can control He's done a tremendous job for us so far and I think that he's really bought into is just having that mindset of keeping us in ball games.”

Horton, who was the Cubs’ 2022 first-round pick out of Oklahoma, was likely pointed toward a promotion this season before the injuries mounted. At Triple-A Iowa he went 2-1 with a 1.24 ERA in six starts, with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29 innings.

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He missed most of the 2024 season with an injury. In 2023, his professional debut, he went 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 21 games with 117 strikeouts and 27 walks in 88.1 innings with three different affiliates.

Right now, Horton is part of a rotation that includes Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, Ben Brown and Colin Rea.

Imanaga could return to the rotation as soon as this coming road trip to St. Louis. He has been out for more than a month with a hamstring injury but is coming off a dominant rehab outing at Triple-A Iowa on Friday.

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The earliest Imanaga could throw, based on normal rest, would be Wednesday. Manager Craig Counsell said that his next start would likely be in the Majors.

Horton is on course to make his next start on Thursday. If Imanaga doesn’t take his spot, the pair could be pitching back-to-back next week.  

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