CHICAGO — Cade Horton stood inside the quiet visitors’ clubhouse at American Family Field in Milwaukee, forced to discuss his season in the past tense. One more win for the Cubs, and the rookie pitcher could have been talking about a return for the National League Championship Series.
Following a sensational Major League debut season, Horton missed the NL Wild Card Series against the Padres and a Division Series against the Brewers due to a fluke right rib fracture. The right-hander was on the cusp of an October comeback when Chicago was eliminated by its rivals to the north.
“He was in a good position. He was going to be on the roster if we won,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said at the end of the season. “He wouldn’t have been stretched out to pitch more than a couple innings. But certainly, that was our plan, to be able to use him.”
That was a bitter pill for Horton to swallow at the end of his incredible rookie season.
“It leaves a sour taste in my mouth,” he said. “But I’ll just use that going into the offseason for next year.”
Horton played an integral role in the Cubs reaching the heights they did this past season. That is why he was recently named the Sporting News’ NL Rookie of the Year and should be a strong contender for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s rookie honor in November.
The Cubs have not had a BBWAA Rookie of the Year winner since Kris Bryant in 2015, and no pitcher has won the award for the North Siders since Kerry Wood in 1998. Horton has a strong case after turning in second-half numbers that had Cubs fans reminiscing about Jake Arrieta’s Cy Young tour de force in ’15.
“Different things happen that give opportunities to guys like Cade,” Cubs lefty Justin Steele said during the postseason. “You got to see how dominant he can be at the big league level.”
Horton did more than that.
He finished 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA, piling up 97 strikeouts against 33 walks in 118 innings (23 appearances). Between Triple-A and the Majors, the righty logged 147 innings. That was a considerable jump from his injury-marred Minor League season in 2024, when he was limited to 34 1/3 frames between Double-A Tennessee and Iowa.
The Cubs kept a close eye on every piece of data to ensure Horton was not being pushed too hard and was responding well, while building in pitch limits as a safety net. The righty took the latter as a challenge to see how efficient he could be on the mound without losing effectiveness, attacking the zone at a prolific rate.
On Aug. 6 against the Reds, Horton threw 83.6% strikes (56 of 67). On Aug. 23 against the Angels, he began his start with 21 consecutive strikes. In six outings between July 9-Aug. 13, Horton pieced together 28 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings. Along the way, he tied a Cubs record (Ed Reulbach in 1909) with 12 consecutive starts in one season with no more than two runs allowed.
“I just felt like start to start, [we were] watching him evolve as a pitcher,” Hoyer said. “He picked up new things. I mean, the changeup was sort of a new pitch when we got him, and he developed that really well. He started using a two-seamer more. Obviously, he pounds the zone and is super efficient.
“His second half was exceptional, and he put himself in the conversation to be Rookie of the Year.”
Horton’s second-half ERA of 1.03 was the second-lowest mark in Cubs history (min. 60 innings), trailing only Arrieta (0.75 ERA in 2015). In fact, there have only been 12 instances in which a pitcher had a 1.03 ERA or lower in the second half (min. 60 innings) since at least 1913 (when earned runs were first tracked).
On Sept. 23, however, Horton had pain in his right side flare in an outing against the Mets and an MRI exam revealed a rib fracture. He tried to play catch later in the week, but the pain persisted, and the rookie landed on the IL. After a rest period, Horton recovered enough to get back on a mound by Oct. 7, building up to two simulated innings by Oct. 10.
“I really, really wanted to help this team in the postseason,” Horton said. “And not being able to do that was really tough for me.”
That said, Horton is looking forward to building on his rookie season.
“It was a whirlwind,” he said. “Came up and had some good outings, had some really bad outings. And then finally settled in and came into my own. I’m just wanting to carry that into the offseason and carry that to next season and really prove who I am.”
