Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Jed Hoyer Reveals Cubs' Cade Horton Plan After Shota Imanaga Injury

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jon Conahan | Last updated May 8, 2025 12:15 PM ET

Many Chicago Cubs fans want the team to call up Cade Horton after the Shota Imanaga news. With Justin Steele out for the year, losing Imanaga would be a disaster, but it looks like the Cubs avoided a serious injury, and he should be back sometime in the near future.

Horton, a prospect in the Cubs' loaded system, is coming off a tough shoulder injury last year. However, he's thrown the baseball at a decent level to start the year at Triple-A, and will likely make his big league debut sometime during the 2025 campaign.

Despite that reality, president of baseball operations, Jed Hoyer, spoke with reporters about what Horton has to do for him to get called up. If there's been one issue with the right-hander throughout his young career, it's his walk issues. In 29.0 innings, he's allowed 13 walks.

“The biggest thing is always competitive pitches,” Hoyer said, per The Athletic. “Throwing noncompetitive pitches in the big leagues puts you in bad counts pretty quickly, counts that you can probably pitch out of in Triple A easier than you can in the big leagues.

“It’s just the consistency of your pitches. Not throwing kind of one good, one bad, but making sure that you’re consistent, and, therefore, avoiding free pitches. The difference between a 1-2 count and a 2-2 count is a pretty big difference. That’s probably the biggest thing he’s been working on.”

Walking hitters is a major concern at the big league ranks, and Hoyer understands that.

Giving the best hitters in the world free passes will never end well, something Horton has to recognize.

If he wants to make his debut, it's something he has to work on.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: