Cubs’ Cade Horton Is Settling In After His First Big League Start

Cade Horton took the mound at Wrigley Field for the first time Friday afternoon. It was just his second time getting the ball in the big leagues, and this was his first chance to start a game for the Chicago Cubs.

As Horton exited the dugout and hopped over the third-base line, the 2007 hit song “Superstar” from Chicago’s own Lupe Fiasco blared over the ballpark speakers.

In a way, it’s a fitting warmup song for Horton. It’s a great song, for one. But talking about superstars — that’s something the Cubs hope Horton can become.

They selected him No. 7 overall in the 2022 Draft, after he pitched only 53 2/3 college innings in a single season at Oklahoma. They believed in what he showed as a college arm.

Horton then mostly dominated his way through the minors leagues. He didn’t even pitch past May 29th last season due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. Yet, he was still No. 45 on Just Baseball’s Top 100 prospects list entering 2025.

“It was a long way to get here — rehab, just physically, mentally,” Horton said. “But it all paid off, and that hard work is coming to fruition.”

There’s a ton of hype behind Horton. Now that he’s up the majors, he can work toward reaching his high ceiling.

He obviously still has a ways to go until he gets there. The results from his first two big league appearances (2-0, 6.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) don’t scream “star” themselves. But there have certainly been moments already when Horton has flashed that potential.

Horton’s MLB Debut Against the Mets

First, there was his fifth-inning punchout of Juan Soto last Saturday. With the Cubs up a run, Horton found himself in a 2-2 count with one out and a man on first against the Mets slugger. Horton decided to go with a changeup — the first and only one he threw all game — and got Soto to swing through it for strike three.

Horton was making his MLB debut — in New York, on a Saturday night national TV broadcast, with a big group of family and friends in the crowd. Under some of the brightest lights a May ballgame can have, Horton went with one of his lesser-used pitches. And against inarguably one of the best hitters on the planet, it got the job done.

“We hadn’t thrown the changeup all day, and I felt like it was a good time. I had conviction in it,” Horton said. “I trust it. It’s just a matter of being in zone with it and landing it. I think in Triple-A, I was just kind of trying to be too fine and perfect with it, and so I think if I can just land it, that brings a lot of confidence.”

Horton Makes His First Start at Wrigley

Then on Friday, Horton matched up with the White Sox in the first Crosstown Classic contest of the year, in front of 40,171 fans.

Like his debut, Horton displayed some great stuff. There was his first-inning strikeout of Luis Robert Jr., inducing a swing and a miss on a 2-2 sweeper well below the zone. He also didn’t walk a single batter, giving him nine consecutive walk-less innings to start his Cubs career.

That’s a major part of what’s helped Horton earn two wins through two outings. Particularly on a day like Friday, with the wind blowing out to center field at 21 mph at first pitch, making mistakes over the plate can hurt you.

We saw that when the Miguel Vargas tagged Horton for two home runs on the day, the first being a first-inning two-run shot off a sweeper over the heart of the plate, the second being a third-inning solo homer on a four-seamer down the middle.

But Horton has constantly been on the attack in the strike zone. The run support helped Friday, as the Cubs led by four after the second (he said it “allows me to not be as fine in my pitches”). But when you make opponents earn their baserunners, the long ball doesn’t have to hurt as much.

“He’s just going on the attack mode,” Carson Kelly said. “I think that’s what he was doing down there [in Triple-A], and it’s great to see him do it up here for us.”

“Just wanting to attack guys. That’s the main thing,” Horton said. “I’m fine with giving up hits, but putting guys on, that’s when you start to get in trouble. You put a guy on, you get the bleeder, and then you get the double. There’s a lot of things that fall and crumble after giving up walks, so just wanting to attack.”

The White Sox aren’t as imposing of an offense as the one Horton faced in Queens. They entered Friday ranked 28th in wRC+ (75) and 30th in OPS (.613). Still, the two teams get up for these rivalry games.

The Sox have big league hitters in their lineup, and after giving up two runs in the first frame, things could’ve tumbled. Especially, again, with the wind blowing out hard. But Horton settled back in, scattering five hits across his last four innings. It was a nice example of him moving past the long ball and refocusing quickly.

“We talked about it before the game, that the wind’s going to go crazy, be blowing out,” Kelly said. “Just continue to move to the next pitch and move to the next guy. Really proud of him, how he gave up those runs early and got back in the zone and kept us in that game.”

“He looked great,” Pete Crow-Armstrong said. “He’s a competitor, so being able to go out there for [five innings], that’s impressive after giving up two early. I think that’s arguably the most exciting part is just being able to finish that game and minimize [the runs].”

Horton has completed plenty of firsts in the big leagues: His first appearance, his first strikeout, his first “W.”

Now, he has his first career start out of the way to continue helping him settle in at this level. And perhaps the coolest part for him was getting to pitch in front of the Cubs’ home crowd for the first time.

“I hope he liked his first taste of Wrigley,” Horton said. “He’s going to do this for a long time.”