Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton looked distraught Friday afternoon in Cleveland when he walked off the field in the second inning of his start against the Guardians, suffering from what was described as “forearm discomfort.” Moments earlier, he had indicated to the dugout that things didn’t feel right, physically.

More News: Chicago Cubs: Is it already time to sound the starting pitching alarm?

“I just wanted to be smart about it,” Horton said. “I’ve been in this spot before and I’ve taken the other route where I keep going, and it ends up being worse. So, I just tried to make a mature decision and end it there.”

The 24-year-old was expected to do big things this year after a breakthrough rookie season in 2025 that saw him perform as, arguably, the best pitcher in all of baseball after the All-Star break.

Manager Craig Counsell told media after the game that Horton to will get imaging to see the extent of the injury and will also be placed on the 15-day IL as he’s being assessed.

Who could take Horton’s spot?

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Now, however, the talk must turn to the future. Specifically, how to fill the young arm’s spot in a Cubs rotation that needs the kind of impact starter Horton was expected to be.

Veteran Colin Rea was brought in to replace Horton on Friday and it’s thought that he’ll likely be the full-time replacement until the team knows what’s in their injured pitcher’s immediate future. Last season, Rea was solid as the team’s full-time rotation fill-in, posting a 10-7 record with a 4.33 ERA in 27 starts.

Chicago also has Ben Brown and Javier Assad as possible rotation fill-ins.

Then, of course, ace Justin Steele is slated to return some time before mid-season.

But if Horton is lost for any extended period of time, the Cubs may have no choice but to reach out and try to pick up somebody outside of the organization.

Some people already have an idea of who that outside pickup should be—Lucas Giolito.

Lucas Giolito to the rescue?

In the Friday night edition of MLB Tonight, the host brought up that exact possibility:

“I keep reminding myself that Lucas Giolito is still sitting out there without a team,” he said, following the segment talking about Horton’s injury.

“He might be a Cub,” replied analyst Harold Reynolds.

Jacob Zanolla of Bleacher Nation also brought up the Giolito possibility:

“The Cubs could look to someone outside of the organization, and there does happen to be one (relatively) legitimate arm still available: Lucas Giolito.

Giolito, 31, made 25 starts for the Red Sox last season, pitching to a 3.41 ERA over 145.0 IP. But while that seems encouraging, a quick peek under the hood reveals the more troubling peripherals that are probably conspiring to keep him a free agent this long: 5.01 xERA, 4.17 FIP. But in terms of emergency fill-in options, you could do a whole lot worse than Giolito.”

Last season with the Red Sox, the 31-year-old Giolito had a good year, stats-wise. But, as Zanolla mentions, maybe the raw numbers don’t tell the full story of what’s under the 9-year veteran’s hood. There has to be a reason, after all, why he’s still unsigned when starting pitching is such an MLB-wide priority.

It remains to be seen whether he’d even be much of an upgrade over the pitchers the Cubs already have lined up as fill-ins.

But he’s somebody definitely worth looking into for a Cubs rotation already showcasing some weakness just days into the season.

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The Chicago Cubs entered the 2026 season with significant depth in the area of starting pitching. While analysts weren’t blown away with the high-end potential of the rotation as a whole, most everyone agreed that the team’s strength was in its depth.

More News: Chicago Cubs: Base thievery may be low-key secret to 2026 success

Chicago started the regular season with five established starters (Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, and Jameson Taillon) on the Opening Day roster, along with two rotation-capable swingmen (Colin Rea and Ben Brown). Reliable swingman Javier Assad was assigned to start the season in Triple-A Iowa, but would only be a phone call away from Wrigley. Jordan Wicks was also a name tossed about as a possible rotation fill-in. Meanwhile, ace Justin Steele is slated to make his return in May-June.

All told, that makes ten potential starters in the mix for a season where big things are expected.

Now, there’s talk that, maybe, the Cubs won’t have the rotation horses after all.

Horton’s injury spotlights Cubs rotation weak points

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Cade Horton’s forearm injury on Friday and subsequent placement on the 15-day IL is the biggest cause for alarm right now, of course. The 24-year-old right-hander was expected to be an ace-level presence on the mound after a second-half of 2025 that saw him emerge as an elite starter.

But Horton has been injury prone throughout his young career. Last year, he was shut down with a fractured rib late in the regular season and would miss the playoffs entirely. In 2024, he was shut down around mid-season with a shoulder injury. He already has a Tommy John surgery in his past.

At best, Horton had to be seen as a question mark when it came to full season duty.

New Cub Edward Cabrera also has a history of injury, with two stints on the IL just last year.

Matthew Boyd, regarded as injury-prone as well, pitched a full season last year, but it was his first 100+ inning campaign since 2019.

Shota Imanaga got smacked around a bit over the second half of last season and also got smacked around in his first start of this season.

Jameson Taillon got crushed during Cactus League play and looked touchable in his first official start of 2026.

Big problems ahead?

If one of the Cubs’ top starters falters and/or is forced to the IL for a long stretch of time, things will get rough. If a couple starters fall out, there’ll be huge problems. Because, yes, the Cubs have depth, but they’ll need more than seat-fillers. Rea, Brown, and Assad are solid, but there’s a reason they weren’t regarded as rotation fixtures.

For now, as Horton is assessed, the 35-year-old Rea will likely fill the young arm’s spot. The veteran was solid last season as the designated rotation-filler, with a 10-7 record in 27 starts and a 4.33 ERA (11-7, 3.95 ERA overall).

Chicago could do a lot worse when it comes to temporary replacements. But Rea doesn’t bring what Horton brings and “good enough for now” is not what an aspiring championship team needs near the top of their rotation.

For now, it’s reasonable to be alarmed about the team’s starting pitching, especially considering that the season is just beginning and a lot more could happen.

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Chicago Cubs right-hander Cade Horton exited his start on Friday with apparent forearm discomfort and will head to the injured list.

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Manager Craig Counsell said Horton will stay with the team one more day and travel back to Chicago for imaging. According to Counsell, Horton said he felt discomfort start in his right wrist, which moved up into his forearm. It was ultimately Horton’s decision to stop pitching, as to not do any further harm. 

Craig Counsell said Cade Horton felt discomfort in his wrist that moved to his forearm, and he will travel to Chicago to get it checked out.

An upcoming roster move is likely. https://t.co/oVdej2xNVf pic.twitter.com/oZ9lGdSsWe

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 3, 2026

The Cubs will make a roster move in the coming days with Horton going on the injured list. The Cubs have until April 8 before Horton’s spot comes up again. Horton was 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA and had four strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

Despite Cade Horton’s injury, the Chicago Cubs have options

Since the Cubs need another quality starter to fill in for Horton, they need to look no further than Javier Assad. Despite having a great spring, a 1.35 ERA in three games, Assad was optioned to Triple-A due to not having a spot.

Since joining the Iowa Cubs, Assad has struggled, allowing seven earned runs in seven innings (two starts). Even though Assad hasn’t done well, he’d be a quality inning-eater if and until Horton returns.

Right-hander Ben Brown is another option to fill in for the short term. Brown has done well out of the bullpen, having a 2.70 ERA and eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

However, in 114.2 innings as a starter, Brown has struggled, posting a 5.26 ERA. Since Brown’s stuff is more suited for the bullpen, the Cubs bringing up Assad and keeping Brown where he is seems like the best plan.

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The Chicago Cubs have one of the better starting rotations in baseball, but the depth may be tested rather quickly.

Cade Horton, a promising young starter, was starting Friday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians, but was pulled early with an injury. Let’s take a closer look at what we know at this point and what it could mean going forward.

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton leaves the game with right forearm discomfort

Horton was today’s starter for the Cubs as they begin their road series with the Guardians. He looked sharp in the first inning, but the second inning saw some issues. Horton would throw a 93.8 mph fastball to Bo Naylor and immediately look into the dugout. The trainer and manager Craig Counsell would come out, and Horton would exit the game.

Marquee Sports’ Taylor McGregor would say on the broadcast that he had “tears in his eyes” as he was heading to the clubhouse. The team would officially call the injury right forearm discomfort. Unfortunately, the mind immediately jumps to Tommy John with forearm injuries, but it’s important to note that nothing has been announced at this point.

Horton is coming off a promising 2025 season as a rookie, finishing second in the 2025 National League Rookie of the Year voting. If he is going to miss extended time due to the injury, expect Javier Assad to get called up. He has been pitching in Triple-A and is on the same schedule as Horton has been in terms of starts.

It will be interesting to see what the latest updates for Horton will be. We will likely not find out until after the game concludes when we hear from Counsell.

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The Chicago Cubs, early this season, appear to be very cognizant of what their postseason should look like and how best to optimize a run at a championship. Last year, the focus seemed to be on just making the postseason.

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In 2025, pitching injuries hobbled their playoff run. By the time they reached the NLDS, they were down to, maybe, two reliable starters and two or three trusted relievers. It was a sobering reality that played out at the tail end of an otherwise tremendous season.

In 2026, however, the pitching focus has seemingly shifted to depth and to pacing themselves for a more pitching-powerful postseason.

That, maybe especially, means keeping an eye on the workload of the team’s younger starters and using their long relief to greater benefit early in the season.

That mindset seemed evident in the first starts of Cade Horton and Edward Cabrera.

An early focus on workload

More News: Chicago Cubs: PCA data suggests a monstrous 2026 may be on the way

Both young arms were cooking into the sixth inning with a minimal pitch count. Manager Craig Counsell opted to take both out of their respective games.

Horton and Cabrera do have a history of injury and durability issues, so it’s no surprise that Counsell would want to be cautious with both. Horton, for example, was shut down late in the season and missed the playoffs entirely with a rib injury, after a sizzling post-All-Star break run. But Counsell’s own words to the media after the Horton game reveal, perhaps, more of a long-term team goal than a simple focus on the health of one young arm.

“If you look at history,” Counsell said, “the first three weeks of the season for pitchers are pretty delicate.”

Counsell has also talked about the benefit of having starter-capable pitchers such as Ben Brown and Colin Rea on the team.

“Having a pair of experienced starters filling in the long-reliever role is a luxury for a team,” Counsell said.

“Early in the season, we thought it could be valuable. With unforeseen weather and being cautious with the starters, I think it’s worked out and will continue to be an asset the next couple of weeks.”

It’s been speculated that the Cubs may be trying to adopt a 2025 Dodgers strategy to managing their starting corps, one where the team is ultra conservative with their starters in order to bring a strong and rested rotation into the playoffs.

Adopting the 2025 Dodgers strategy?

Last season, the Dodgers’ rotation was strained throughout much of the regular season due to injury, with only Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivering more than 112.2 innings as a starter.

They were then careful and judicious with the return of injured/recovering starters Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and even Shohei Ohtani. Ultimately, they were able to reintroduce all three to the rotation just in time for a strong pennant push and then the postseason.

The strategy paid off as Yamamoto and the fresh, strong threesome of Glasnow, Blake, and Ohtani accounted for more than 68% of the innings pitched in the postseason en route to another World Series win for the Dodgers.

The Cubs don’t have the studs the Dodgers did, but they do have big-time depth. The team currently has seven possible starters on the big league roster and Javier Assad in Iowa, with recovering ace Justin Steele set to make his return before mid-season.

If the workload is handled just right, it’s almost a guarantee that Chicago will be able to put together a very nice four-man rotation for what they hope to be a deep postseason run.

Last season, they really didn’t have that luxury of depth—and they ultimately paid the price. This season, they’re angling for a much different end to the season.

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The Chicago Cubs are, maybe, not as secure in the starting pitching department as many thought they would be this winter.

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The names are there and there’s still an overflow of arms for the rotation, but just about every proposed starter has looked vulnerable this spring and depth has suddenly become a concern. Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Edward Cabrera, and Shota Imanaga have been beaten up in Cactus League play and that makes one wonder about backups.

Colin Rea, Ben Brown, and Javier Assad will be around, but none project as high-end starters over the long haul.

But could the Cubs have another Cade Horton surprise this season?

The next Cade Horton surprise?

More News: Chicago Cubs: Insider predicts big things for two young Cubs in 2026

Last year, top pitching prospect Horton came up from Triple-A in May, after Imanaga’s injury, and ended up blowing people away with a dominant post-All-Star break run.

This year, current top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins is being predicted by some to be the surprise pitching star of the season.

The 24-year-old Wiggins came to spring training this year as a non-roster invitee and turned some heads, despite getting touched up a bit in his limited play.

“There’s a lot of good signs with Jaxon, there are a lot of good things happening,” manager Craig Counsell told media. “The finishing touches can happen really fast is how I would describe it. But they can also take a while. That’s Jaxon’s job right now, just make himself a little bit more complete pitcher. It’s certainly very close.”

Big league expectations for Wiggins

Michael Brauner of Sports Illustrated fully anticipates the 6-foot-6 Wiggins getting the major league call-up at some point this season:

“He was never going to break camp with the team, but he certainly could be on a similar trajectory as Cade Horton last year, starting the season in Iowa.

Making an impact on the coaching staff, Wiggins established himself as a name to watch and once Ballesteros officially graduates he will become the top prospect in the organization. Jed Hoyer has spoken often about how much pitching depth is needed, and the 24-year-old is the next one up.

It would be a significant surprise to not see Wiggins’ big league debut in 2026.”

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic echoes the enthusiasm, although he holds back in predicting a likely big league debut in 2026 for the pitcher he describes as having “one of the best fastballs in the minors.”

Per Sharma:

“The fastball is in the upper 90s and has the type of vertical rise that is impossible to ignore. He also has a strong curveball, a quickly developing changeup and a slider. So what are the next steps?

…He has a walk rate well above 10 percent in each of his pro seasons. That has to change. That he walked just 5.9 percent of batters this spring was something that was taken note of. Now bring that into the season.”

Wiggins is, arguably, the last homegrown high-end starting pitching prospect in the Cubs farm system, at least for now. Fast-tracking his development and bringing him up to the majors this coming season will probably be a last resort for the Cubs– and a sign that the rotation is in deep distress.

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The Chicago Cubs’ Opening Day roster is all set. For the most part, the spring played out exactly as expected, except for the WBC knee injury of Seiya Suzuki which shouldn’t be too much of an early setback.

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But, after making some big offseason moves, big things are expected of this 2026 Cubs team and the pressure is on.

There are a number of possible breakout stars and team MVP candidates on this roster. It could be argued that Chicago’s success this coming season hinges on some heroes stepping up to next-level achievement.

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic has boldly predicted two such heroes for the coming season, both 20-something assets who are also key to the team’s success for years to come

A Cy Young year for Cade Horton?

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Sharma is predicting big things for Cade Horton, who’s coming off an eye-catching rookie season.

Horton wasn’t even supposed to be on the big league Cubs’ roster last year, but an injury to Shota Imanaga in May forced him up from Iowa. The kid responded, big time. After a solid start to his majors career, he caught fire after the All-Star break, going 8-1 and posting an amazing 1.03 ERA in twelve starts. In that stretch of time, he was, arguably, the best pitcher in all of baseball and came in second place in Rookie of the Year voting because of it.

The 24-year-old Horton’s late-spring training performances this year would seem to indicate that he’ll start 2026 right were he left off in 2025 before a rib injury cost him his final games of the year.

Per Sharma:

“Craig Counsell is trying to tamp down expectations for the young righty. He knows matching, let alone topping, last season’s success will be a challenge. He’s warned against it…

Horton had a 2.67 ERA over 118 innings last year, finishing runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He was incredibly efficient, almost forced to with a tight pitch count. The one area he can improve is strikeout rate, which was a mere 20.6 percent last summer. Yet, over his last nine starts, that number jumped to 26 percent while his already strong walk rate dropped to 4.7 percent.

If Horton can stay even close to those peripherals and add 60 innings to his total, he’s a likely Cy Young candidate.”

Miguel Amaya, All-Star?

The 27-year-old catcher seemed on the verge of a breakout in late 2024. Injuries early into the 2025 season, however, stopped his progress. Amaya finished last season with only 28 games played, but he looked like the real deal in all of them.

This spring he looks strong and healthy, hitting .308 with 2 home runs in 26 at bats over 10 games.

For the longest time, Amaya was considered the premier catching prospect in the Cubs’ system and 2026 could be the year he finally realizes his full potential in the majors.

Per Sharma:

“Many are overlooking Amaya after an injury-plagued 2025, along with Carson Kelly putting up a career year. He’ll continue to split time with Kelly, but Counsell won’t be afraid to lean on one or the other depending on who is playing best.

If Amaya can get off to a hot start with the bat — don’t expect a match of Kelly’s April last season — perhaps he’ll get some attention league-wide. The Cubs are expected to be one of the best teams in the NL, so if Amaya, who has appeared healthy and strong at the plate this spring, hits a hot stretch, the All-Star Game shouldn’t be a stretch.”

Having an entire year of Horton’s dominance and a breakthrough full season from Amaya would go a long way in guaranteeing the Cubs’ success in 2026. Soon enough, the actual season will begin and everyone will see what’s what.

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The Chicago Cubs are days away from kicking off the 2026 MLB season with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals. They have spent the past several weeks in Arizona for Spring Training. During that time, they have answered many questions regarding the make-up of their roster.

One of the last questions to be answered, as is the case for most teams every year, is what five pitchers will make up their starting rotation.

Despite a plethora of quality candidates, it appears that the Cubs have finally settled on who their initial starting-five will be.

The Chicago Cubs seem to have figured out their Opening Day starting rotation

It has been known for several days now that 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd will be Chicago’s Opening Day starter. This decision was somewhat unpopular among fans. Many of them wanted to see Cade Horton get a chance to start on Opening Day, especially after Boyd struggled in the World Baseball Classic.

Of course, Horton is making the Opening Day roster for the first time in his career, and his spot in the rotation appears to be cemented.

Based on previous roster moves, the following five pitchers appear set to make up the Cubs’ initial starting rotation.

Matthew Boyd

2025 stats: 14-8, 3.21 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 31 starts, 154 strikeouts, 172.9 innings

Cade Horton

2025 stats: 11-4, 2.67 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 23 games (22 stats), 97 strikeouts, 118.0 innings

Shota Imanaga

2025 stats: 9-8, 3.73 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 25 starts, 117 strikeouts, 144.2 innings

Edward Cabrera

2025 stats (with the Miami Marlins): 8-7, 3.53 ERA, 1,23 WHIP, 26 starts, 150 strikeouts, 137.2 innings

Jameson Taillon

2025 stats: 11-7, 3.68 ERA, 1,06 WHIP, 23 starts, 98 strikeouts, 129.2 innings pitched.

As can be seen, on paper, this is an excellent starting rotation. Justin Steele is going to return at some point this season as well, and will fill in for whoever is injured or under-performing at that point.

More Chicago Cubs news from ChiCity Sports

• Cubs get interesting lineup ranking from former MLB executive
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For More Chicago Sports

Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Robin Adams via email at robadams14@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Cubs took a gamble in signing oft-injured starter Matthew Boyd prior to the 2025 season on a 2-year, $29 million contract.

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The veteran lefty was coming off Tommy John surgery in mid-2023 and had just gotten back into the swing of things at the very end of the 2024 season. Plagued by an assortment of injuries, he hadn’t thrown over 100 innings in a season since 2019.

But the Cubs’ bet paid off. Boyd was brilliant last season, posting 14-8 record with a 3.21 ERA over 179.2 innings. With ace Justin Steele sustaining a season-ending elbow injury after just four starts, Boyd stepped in to become the Cubs’ ace the rest of the way.

The experts and analysts, however, are not very high on Boyd heading into the 2026 season and have almost unanimously predicted a prodigious fall from grace for the starter.

Boyd blasted with poor ranking

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In a collaborative piece for The Athletic ranking the top 50 starters in baseball, Andy McCullough, Will Sammon and Sahadev Sharma placed Boyd nearly at the bottom of the list. They actually him him tied for 49th.

Per The Athletic:

“Boyd made his first All-Star team in 2025, rewarding the Cubs for their faith in giving him a two-year, $29 million contract after an intriguing eight-start campaign with Cleveland in 2024. ‘Good for a solid, back-end arm,’ one executive said. But many of our panelists were pessimistic about Boyd putting together a repeat. ‘Very good 2025,’ one scout said, ‘but that was his first healthy year since 2020.’”

According to their tier system for the rankings, Boyd falls into the area of a fourth or fifth starter.

The Cubs plan on Boyd being their Opening Day starter and implied ace.

Overall, the Cubs starters rate poorly on this list, with the highest placed Cub being Cade Horton as a tie for no. 40 of the top 50. Newcomer Edward Cabrera comes in at 48, one spot below Boyd. Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon are unranked.

This assessment falls in line with MLB projections systems, which don’t view Chicago’s starting pitching in much of a positive light.

Cubs rotation “deep in meh and unexcitement”

Dan Szymborski, the developer of the computer-based ZiPS projection system, blasted the rotation as one “deep in meh and unexcitement.”

Per Szymborski:

“ZiPS sees the Cubs as having a very deep rotation that’s also very deep in unexcitement. There’s certainly some upside here, especially in Edward Cabrera, but ZiPS largely views the team as having a whole lot of broadly average starting pitching options. The good news here is that if Justin Steele has any setbacks, ZiPS likes the team’s replacement options. Even with especially bad luck in the injury department, the computer thinks Javier Assad will be adequate — it has him with an ERA considerably lower than his FIP, though some of that is thanks to the stellar Cubs defense — and that Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks would both be far more acceptable as starters if called into duty than they’ve shown so far. Heck, if Colin Rea or even Connor Noland were forced into starting some games, that wouldn’t be an apocalyptic scenario for the Cubs.”

None of this guarantees the Cubs starters a great, big fail this season. It does raise some concerns, though, that maybe the rotation is not as rock-solid as fans would like to believe. As always, time will tell.

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The Chicago Cubs are entering the 2026 MLB season with one goal in mind: winning the World Series. With so many players not under contract for the 2027 season, the 2026 season is likely going to be the last go around for many on the roster.

Per Mark Feinsand, “With more than 40 percent of the roster potentially headed to the open market in the fall, the 2027 Cubs are almost certain to have a drastically different look than this year’s iteration. ”

And so, 2026 is one in which the Cubs are almost certainly gunning for a World Series, and certain MLB analysts think they have a great chance of winning it.

MLB analysts pick the Chicago Cubs third in their annual World Series winner draft

Every year, MLB.com analysts Will Leitch and Mike Petriello take turns picking teams in a “World Series draft.” In it, they take turns picking teams they think have the best chance to win the World Series. The Los Angles Dodgers were picked first, and the Seattle Mariners were picked second.

But then they picked the Cubs third:

“I am not blind to the fact that the Brewers are the three-time NL Central champions, and that the Cubs haven’t actually won their division in a full season since way back in 2017. And yet: I picked Chicago here, not Milwaukee. It wouldn’t be a season preview if someone wasn’t out here failing to fully respect Milwaukee, right? Why should this year be any different?

“Part of this is that winning the division isn’t a requirement for winning the World Series, so even if the Cubs finish second again, they could still get the ring, but also I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen of Shota Imanaga this spring, and I have hope they can unlock Edward Cabrera a bit. The lackluster rotation has had me down on this team the last few seasons – and I regret to say that I do not share everyone’s optimism about Cade Horton – but it’s at least deeper. The defense is great. They should hit.

“I have to admit, though: It’s very uncomfortable picking this team this high. You could probably order teams 3-13 here in any way you like. I sure hope Seiya Suzuki is healthy, though. We couldn’t have waited another day, Will?”

More Chicago Cubs news from ChiCity Sports

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For More Chicago Sports

Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Robin Adams via email at robadams14@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Cubs enter the 2026 season with a unique roster makeup. There are a number of veterans on the team (Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, etc.), but there are also a lot of young, 20-something stars (Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Cade Horton, and Daniel Palencia, among others).

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With so many veterans possibly leaving the team for free agency at the end of the 2026 campaign, it’s reassuring that there are also so many young players still with them over the long haul.

The Athletic recently acknowledged two of the Cubs’ young stars– Crow-Armstrong and Horton– as especially valuable assets by naming them to their MLB All-Under-25 Team.

Pete Crow-Armstrong gets his props

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Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was an honorable mention in the publication’s All-Under-25 Team last year, was named the top young center fielder on this year’s list.

Per Stephen J. Nesbitt of The Athletic:

“Crow-Armstrong was another honorable mention on last year’s All-Under-25 Team; at that point, he carried a meager .652 OPS in the majors. He changed the narrative in 2025. Through Aug. 1, Crow-Armstrong batted .273/.309/.560 (.869 OPS) with 27 homers and 29 steals, then faded down the stretch. He won his first Gold Glove and finished ninth in NL MVP voting. Swing-and-miss remains an issue, but the power-defense combination in center field is immensely valuable.”

The struggles of “PCA” are well-documented, but so is his tremendous upside, which makes him a dream multi-tool star with the competitive drive to match.

The soon-to-be 24-year-old, who came to the Cubs in a 2021 trade involving Javier Baez, has been very open about the stress and strain of maintaining his progress in the rough, tough world of major league baseball. Last season’s second-half dip saw him displaying clear frustration. But it’s his openness, honesty, and competitive drive that could see him through his growing pains.

Cade Horton rewarded for breakthrough 2025

The Athletic also named Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton to their All-Under-25 squad.

The 24-year-old was not even slated for the major league team in 2025, but was pulled up from Triple-A when starter Shota Imanaga went on the IL with a hamstring injury.

Although Horton performed well enough in his first tour of big league duty, he REALLY took off after the All-Star break.

The Cubs’ 2022 no. 1 draft pick dominated over the second half of the season, delivering an 8-1 record and posting an amazing 1.03 ERA in twelve starts after the All-Star break. Over that run, he was, arguably, the best pitcher in all of baseball. A late September rib fracture, however, put him on the shelf and prevented him from pitching in the postseason. The final season tally saw Horton finish the year with an 11-4 record and a 2.67 ERA, plus a second place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Per Nesbitt:

“Despite missing the 2025 postseason with a cracked rib, Horton was vital for the Cubs as a rookie, posting a 2.67 ERA over 118 innings and stabilizing the rotation in the second half. Horton ran a modest strikeout rate (20.4 percent), but his plus command and the elite defense behind him made hunting early contact an effective approach.”

Both Crow-Armstrong and Horton stand to be big parts of the Cubs’ 2026 team and, in many ways, play pivotal roles in the team’s success.

22-year-old Rookie DH/catcher Moises Ballesteros, another big piece to Chicago’s 2026 puzzle, also received an honorable mention by the sports news outlet.

The post Two Chicago Cubs named to star-studded All-Under-25 team, another gets honorable mention appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs, on Thursday, named Matthew Boyd their Opening Day starter. It was the safe, reasonable choice to make considering Boyd’s 2025.

More News: Chicago Cubs named one of the teams under the most pressure in 2026

The veteran lefty came to the Cubs as a bit of a free agent gamble last season, coming off a long history of injury and Tommy John surgery in mid-2023. Originally targeted for 110-120 innings as a back-end-of rotation starter, Boyd exceeded all expectations and performed his way into being the ace of the staff with a 3.21 ERA in 179.2 innings over 31 starts.

So, yes, Boyd was the logical choice for Opening Day.

That designation, though, probably paints a clearer picture for the rest of the rotation order.

Boyd on Opening Day, and then what?

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The Cubs would probably want a power right-hander coming after the more nuanced lefty. That means probably Cade Horton, but it could also mean newcomer Edward Cabrera. Then, maybe, another nuanced lefty in Shota Imanaga. After that, either Horton or Cabrera, whoever didn’t land the no. 2 spot in the rotation. That would leave Jameson Taillon as the no. 5 starter.

A probable rotation might look like this (although, obviously, the order could easily be all scrambled up behind Boyd):

Matthew Boyd
Cade Horton
Shota Imanaga
Edward Cabrera
Jameson Taillon

Things get a bit more complicated, however, when Justin Steele returns after being on the shelf, recovering from elbow surgery last April. Upon his comeback (expected before mid-season), someone will have to be booted from their rotation spot. Who gets the boot will be determined, obviously, by who has been the least effective at the time of Steele’s return.

One also has to consider the fact that the Cubs have a pair of very capable swingmen in Javier Assad and Colin Rea, with Ben Brown also having starter potential. Assad has been having a killer spring so far and Rea performed admirably in the rotation last season, making up for the injury-related absences of Steele, Imanaga, and Taillon.

A Plan B, Plan C?

Some have theorized that Chicago could possibly go with a 6-man rotation for at least part of the season, given their depth and the need/desire to preserve arms for what they hope to be a deep postseason run.

They could also piggyback starters for a stretch of time, maybe pairing two for a single game, utilizing all of their nine potential starters to deliver multi-inning outings and save wear and tear on a staff that does have considerable injury and durability concerns. Although this strategy might end up taxing the bullpen disproportionately, essentially forcing a small handful of dedicated relievers to cover almost all relief innings.

Whatever the Cubs decide, the elephant in the room will always be the staff’s health and durability concerns. Boyd, Horton, and Cabrera have significant history of injury. Taillon and Imanaga spent a good amount of time on the IL last year. And Steele, of course, is coming back from major elbow surgery.

An ace in the hole may be top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins, who some are hoping could be the Cade Horton of 2026, moving up from the minors to win a spot in the Cubs rotation. There’s also hope that lefty Jordan Wicks can get healthy and finally put it all together for a good major league run.

For now, all the Cubs can do is lay down their pieces and play them. Soon enough, everyone will know whether a Plan B or C is necessary.

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Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton is eager to build on the momentum from a standout stretch following the All-Star break last year, where he posted a remarkable 1.03 ERA over 12 starts. A rib fracture ended his season prematurely in late September and kept him out of the playoffs, but as he enters his sophomore season, Horton is approaching spring training with the confidence and mindset of a seasoned veteran.

Cade Horton not worried after tough outing where the Chicago Cubs were roughed up by the Texas Rangers

On Tuesday, March 10, Horton made his second official Cactus League appearance. The results were not pretty as the Rangers roughed him up for six earned runs that featured three home runs. Despite this, Horton relayed to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com that he is not worried about results, but is focusing on the process.

“The results, they can sometimes lie to you. If I was living in the results, I’d be really disappointed right now.”

-Cade Horton

Horton also explained that he focused more on his breaking pitches during this outing, particularly his curveball. He threw the pitch nine times out of 60 total offerings, marking a five percent increase compared to his 2025 season average. Additionally, he was pleased with the velocity on his fastball, which hovered just a few decimals under 96 MPH, right in line with his regular-season average.

As Horton continues through this spring training, it’s clear he’s approaching it with the mindset of a seasoned veteran. Rather than getting caught up in stats or results, he’s prioritizing refining his craft, working on his pitches, maintaining velocity, and trusting the process. That focus on preparation over outcomes could pay dividends once the season begins, setting him up for a strong sophomore campaign with the Chicago Cubs.

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The Chicago Cubs are focused on winning big this year and would seemingly have all the horses in place right now to do that. But they still have an eye on the future…and that future is making some big noise in spring training.

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20-year-old shortstop Jefferson Rojas has been turning heads as their youngest non-roster invitee– and absolutely killing the ball in the process.

On Wednesday, the kid from the Dominican Republic crushed a 438-foot home run against the Milwaukee Brewers that left everyone in awe. So far, this spring, he’s hitting .318 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs in 24 plate appearances.

Rojas is no stranger to being the youngest player on the field. Since being signed as a 16-year-old, he’s been steadily moved up the Cubs’ farm system, ahead of schedule, because of his advanced hitting prowess. He’s now, once again, playing up to the level of his older, more mature teammates– only this time at the major league/spring training level.

Jefferson Rojas is killing it

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“Jefferson’s made a great impression,” manager Craig Counsell told media. “Just being able to see Jefferson two years ago, and where we’re at right now — wow…We’ve got a good offensive player here that’s going to impact the baseball and do some damage. He’s going to be a dangerous hitter.”

Cubs 2025 breakthrough pitcher Cade Horton has faced Rojas seven times in the minors and Rojas has homered three times off him.

“He’s really skilled for his age, and just really mature for his age,” Horton told the Chicago Sun-Times. “So I’m happy to have him on our team.”

Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly is similarly in awe of Rojas’ development. He previously marveled at the young talent’s raw ability, but is now seeing some real maturity built off of solid hard work. As a matter of fact, he recently commented to the Chicago Sun-Times that he had to double check Rojas’ age when he saw how well he was performing.

“A lot of the work that he’s done down in the minor leagues is getting into his legs and using his lower half and creating a little bit of posture,” Kelly said. “So, his swing path is really cleaned up, and just the overall efficiency of his swing, where it is right now, is generating some output. He’s hitting the ball really hard — much harder than what I thought or expected from him, especially in a major-league camp at 20 years old.”

On a quick rise to the majors?

Rojas, the Cubs’ no. 5 prospect per MLB.com, just started his Double-A run with Knoxville at the end of last season, so there’s some time to go before fans might see him at Wrigley. He also had some struggles as he moved up.

But those concerns are offset by how great he’s looked this spring as he’s worked alongside major leaguers and high-level prospects.

Scouting reports show that his “average” defensive ability at shortstop may mean that second base could likely be his spot when/if he makes his way to the majors. But Rojas is where he is because of his bat and his big league hopes will ride or die based on how well he hits at Double-A and above.

For now, though, the kid has impressed and he’s definitely leaving his mark in the minds of Cubs coaches.

The post Chicago Cubs manager marvels at surprise 20-year-old prospect: “Wow” appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs are heading into the 2026 MLB season with a gluttony of talented pitching. This is, of course, an ideal situation for any team, as 162 games are difficult to navigate healthily. Over the course of the year, the Cubs will undoubtedly use many different starting pitchers to help them achieve their goals.

That being said, the question right now is what pitchers will make up Chicago’s initial starting rotation. Additionally, which pitcher will be the Opening Day starter and, thereby, the staff ace?

There are, of course, multiple options with how deep their pitching depth is. But is may be Cade Horton who emerges as the Cubs’ ace in 2026.

Cade Horton projected to headline the Chicago Cubs starting rotation

In a recent article, Bleacher Report predicted the starting rotations for each Major League Baseball team. Their picks for the Cubs’ initial rotation was as follows:

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Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Robin Adams via email at robadams14@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Cubs are heading into the 2026 season with great expectations and a feeling that this year could most definitely be their year. Part of the reason for such optimism is in the fact that their starting rotation is so deep and locked in.

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Barring some unforeseen surprise, the Cubs will start the season with a rotation of Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon, and Shota Imanaga. Then, possibly as early as May or June, Justin Steele should be coming back from last year’s elbow surgery.

That would give the team six viable starters, plus Colin Rea and Javier Assad as capable swingmen who could step in and take a rotation spot for a good period of time.

So, what would Chicago do with six starters (or possibly eight) and only five slots in which to put them?

An unprecedented trade

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Jake Misener of Cubbies Crib predicts that the Cubs could trade one of them away at the trade deadline for whatever they may need to take them comfortably into the postseason.

Per Misener:

“…Nobody is doubting the sheer volume of arms in the mix here. Cabrera and Horton are joined by Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga – as well as Javier Assad, Colin Rea and Ben Brown, not to mention Justin Steele, who is expected to return in May or June.

That math doesn’t math – at least not when everyone is healthy. There could be a deal out there this summer to the Cubs’ liking, maybe to add a bona fide late-inning arm, and seeing Hoyer deal from a position of strength makes a decent amount of sense.”

Dealing from a position of strength

It’s unprecedented for a likely playoff-bound team to trade AWAY a starter at the deadline. However, if the Cubs’ rotation stays healthy and Steele can return to ace-level form, the front office, as Misener says, could cut a deal from a position of strength.

Maybe they’d get a bullpen stud, someone who could add some end-of-game stability and step into a closer or co-closer role. Maybe the acquisition could be a proven power hitter.

Of course, such a deal would probably mean that their trade partners would also see themselves as contenders for postseason play. So, a trade like that would require some boldness from both sides.

But, why not? Imanaga and Taillon are free agency-eligible at the end of the season. Boyd, meanwhile, is staring down a mutual option at the end of 2026 and is not an absolute guarantee to return next year.

In a Cubs-perfect world, the team would still be carrying five starters into August with some solid backup behind them.

First, though, the Cubs have to stay healthy and live up to expectations. If not, any deadline trades would be sell-offs and not roster reinforcement.

The post Chicago Cubs: A trade deadline shocker could become reality, per analyst appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs are working their way towards Opening Day, 2026 in the unique position of not needing any starting rotation aid (other than continued good health).

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The five designated starters (Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga) are locked into their spots, with ace Justin Steele slated to return to the rotation some time before the All-Star break. Then, behind all of them, there are rotation insurance policies in the form of Colin Rea, Javier Assad, Ben Brown, and Jordan Wicks.

Overall, the Cubs find themselves in a pretty good position when it comes to starting pitching.

And this kind of good position also takes pressure off their top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins, who will be under no added stress to make the big league squad and can be brought along at his own speed.

But this is baseball. Injuries happen. Sometimes prospects get rushed along out of necessity.

Jaxon Wiggins and the Cade Horton path

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Last season, for example, the Cubs’ previous top pitching prospect, Cade Horton, was pushed up into a major league role in May, following the injuries of Steele and Imanaga, after being deemed not yet major league-ready in spring training.

That call-up went spectacularly well as Horton found his footing and became one of the best pitchers in all of baseball from July until his season-ending rib injury in late September. When the dust settled on his 2025, the young arm posted a 2.67 ERA with an 11-4 record in 23 appearances and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

This year, Wiggins is taking the Horton role in spring training as a not yet big league-ready pitcher with big-time potential. But, seeing how things played out with Horton last season, Wiggins is certainly being eyeballed as a 2026 major league fit.

Horton and Wiggins, little league foes

An interesting sidenote to this Horton-Wiggins tie-in is that the two 24-year-olds, who were both fast-tracked through the minors, are also childhood competitors dating back to their little league days in Oklahoma.

“Jaxon’s always been a guy that’s been so gifted athletically,” Horton told MLB.com. “Electric arm. I remember in Little League, he was the hardest thrower. It was always an elite arm…

“I know what Jaxon’s about…I know the work he puts in and how bad he wants it.”

In Horton, Wiggins has the kind of sympathetic ear that Horton lacked last spring. Horton knows, intimately, everything Wiggins is going through and might go through if he gets the big league call-up.

“It’s all about being where your feet are,” Horton said, referring to advice he may offer to Wiggins. “That really helped me last year — not getting so caught up in the future and what could happen. He’s going to be a big part of this team, and so just being where his feet are is the biggest thing, I think. That allowed me to go out there and play free and not really necessarily worry about things you can’t control.”

High hopes in 2026

Hopes are high for the hard-throwing 6-foot-6 Wiggins. In 2025, across three levels, he posted a 2.19 ERA in 78 innings with 97 total strikeouts. He’s being regarded by many as potentially the last homegrown Cubs starting pitching prospect for a good, long while.

“He made a lot of progress last year,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “To a point where, another step forward, and he’s certainly in the conversation. … He’s just got to get a little more consistent, execute at a little higher level. Be competitive with a bigger percentage of pitches. There’s not necessarily pitch development, in terms of new pitches, that needs to happen. It’s just, harness his stuff.”

Wiggins, himself, doesn’t seem to be overwhelmed by pressure as he works out with the Cubs as a non-roster invitee in Mesa.

“The only goal I have is just to do what I do — try to be the best version of myself,” Wiggins said. “And when that opportunity comes, I want to take advantage of it.”

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The Chicago Cubs are still figuring out just which pitchers will make up their bullpen and starting rotation in 2026. Indeed, if they are to take the next step and compete for a World Series, they have to ensure that they get these decisions right. Fortunately for Chicago, it appears that they have their next long-time ace already on staff.

In 2025, Cade Horton made his Major League debut. He turned out to be one of the most exciting young pitchers in the game and, if he can repeat the success in 2026, should lead the Cubs rotation for years to come.

Just 24 years old, Horton has a bright future ahead of him. Already, he has made a list of the best Major League players under the age of 25.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton makes list of top 25 MLB players under 25 years old

In a recent article in which he ranked the 25 best players under the age of 25, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report had Horton slotted in at number 13:

“With a 1.03 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in 61.1 innings, Cade Horton threw the ball as well as any pitcher in baseball after the All-Star break last year. Unfortunately, his season came to a premature end when he suffered a fractured rib in September and he was unavailable for the Cubs playoff run. Now he is poised to solidify his status as the ace of the staff in 2026.”

Overall in 2025, as a rookie, Horton was 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 23 games (22 starts). He struck out 97 batters in 118.0 innings.

His accomplishments led to a second-place finish for National League Rookie of the Year.

If he is able to repeat the success he enjoyed in the Majors in 2026, there is little doubt that he will make his first NL All-Star team and perhaps even receive some Cy Young votes.

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Follow me on Twitter at @theotherRobin19, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Robin Adams via email at robadams14@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks

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The Chicago Cubs will have no shortage of starting pitchers (assuming health) come Opening Day, but the question of who the ace of the staff will be still remains. Justin Steele would be the guy, but he will not be ready to pitch come March 26. Plus he will need to ramp up and shake off the rust once he returns.

Outside of Steele, the current rotation has several number one candidates, but there is currently no Carlos Zambrano, Jon Lester, or Jake Arrieta type shoo-in. Most of the Cubs’ healthy starters on paper are arguably considered 3-5 arms on other contending rotations. At least by more “traditional” standards, noting the dynamics of pitching staffs have evolved in recent years. So that’s a bit subjective.

Potential Cubs ace candidates.

When looking at an “ace candidate” right now, it’s primarily about who will start Opening Day. Who starts a postseason series is well down the road, assuming they get there. Based on history and/or abilities, the three arms that stand out are Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, and Edward Cabrera.

Boyd is coming off a career year, pitching to a 3.21 ERA, 1.1 WHIP, 3.65 FIP, 7.7 K/9, and 2.1 BB/9 in 179.2 innings (31 starts). Of the three names mentioned, he is the veteran who has pitched in over 1,000 innings and made 199 career starts. Horton displayed ace-like potential in his rookie 2025 season. Over his last 14 starts last year, he pitched to a 1.36 ERA, 2.96 FIP, and 64 strikeouts in 73 innings. Cabrera is an electric arm that ranked in the 87th percentile in fastball velocity (upper 90s MPH), while ranking between 70th and 80th percentile in chase, whiff, and strikeout rates.

Boyd likely has the upper hand right now, considering the experience. Durability across a season is a concern based on his injury history, and his strikeout rate last year was not huge. Projections are still pretty solid though, even coming off a career year at age 34. Horton feels like the highest ceiling, though the workload is a question. Marcels Projections (via Baseball-Reference) are fairly bullish on the 24-year old righty, projecting a 3.23 ERA with an 8.1 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 2026. Though just 117 innings pitched. It would be a bit more surprising to see Cabrera be the guy, but he’s got the stuff to be an ace.

Why not other Cubs starters?

While one cannot definitively rule out Shota Imanaga, he feels like a middle rotation guy going forward. He’s shown he can pitch well in the Majors, sporting a 3.28 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 8.2 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 in 54 MLB starts. That said the weaknesses really showed in the later half of 2025. He’s a heavy flyball pitcher that gives up a lot of home runs; even in 2024 he surrendered 27 in 173.1 innings (58 in 318 innings total). He can generate whiffs with his repitor of pitches but he’s not overpowering. Worth noting the whiff rate last year was in the 44th percentile vs. being in the 72nd percentile in 2024.

This does not mean Imanaga cannot be an effective pitcher in 2026. It would just be hard to peg him as a 1 or 2 in a rotation right now.

Jameson Taillon has the most innings pitched of any starter on the staff (1,237), but he’s a lower to middle rotation type pitcher. He’s been a workhorse over the past few years, sporting a 3.43 ERA and only 81 walks over his last 385.2 innings pitched. He’s also given up his share of homers (101 over his past three seasons) while not having ace-like stuff that generates whiffs. Not a knock, he’s a good 3-4 starter who can be very effective while not dominant.

The rest of the pitching depth on the 40-man like Colin Rea, Javier Assad, Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks would serve as swing guys. Spring Training will paint a clearly picture on who will get pegged as the top dog in the rotation.

The post Can the Cubs comfortably declare an ace of the staff? appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton broke onto the scene in 2025 with a big rookie season. Horton was a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year award, asserting himself as a dominant pitcher in the rotation.

While Horton battled an injury late in the year that kept him out of the playoffs, he’s expected to be Chicago’s ace for the 2026 MLB season in what is a deep rotation. Horton should be the top guy for the Cubs and the early reports out of Spring Training are encouraging.

Especially in one area.

Cade Horton is throwing harder in Spring Training

As the Cubs are down in Arizona for Spring Training, reports had some good news on Horton. His velocity appears to be up.

Per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, Horton is touching 98MPH on the radar gun after throwing  95.5 mph in the regular season last year. That’s a big jump for an already good pitcher in Horton.

Cade Horton is sitting 96 and hitting 98 and it's mid-February. “And he’s cruising,” Craig Counsell said.@sahadevsharma on the Cubs' second-year starter preparing to improve on his 2025 success:https://t.co/v0vRwUAaaS

— jon greenberg (@jon_greenberg) February 16, 2026

Horton is coming off that injury that ended his season early. The Cubs don’t want to push him too much either, so we shouldn’t be too worried about the velocity increase right away.

“We’ve really stressed to Cade a slow, steady build-up for the season,” manager Craig Counsell said,in The Athletic piece. “That’s what’s most important. He should have the feeling of he’s got a lot of time. He feels great, he’s in a great place.”

Horton posted a 2.67 ERA with a 1.085 WHIP in 2025. He went 11-4 overall while striking out 97 batters in 23 games before the injury bug hit him. If he gets even better in 2026, Horton could find himself in the Cy Young race and more importantly, should have the Cubs back in the postseason.

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The Chicago Cubs made some significant waves this offseason. They made moves that, in other years and under different circumstances, would’ve been hard to fathom.

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After letting right fielder Kyle Tucker walk away without a struggle, for example, they signed free agent third base man Alex Bregman, who they made a play for last offseason. They spent big (5-years, $175 million) to get him, too.

They made another big splash when they traded for Miami Marlins starting pitcher Edward Cabrera, giving up their top prospect OF Owen Caissie, their no. 11 prospect INF Cristian Hernandez, and another infield prospect.

Before those two moves, they restocked their depleted bullpen with four free agent relievers, using a significant chunk of change to do so.

Big expectations for 2026

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With all these moves (plus the re-signing of Shota Imanaga and Caleb Thielbar), there are big expectations coming into this 2026 season. The Cubs are projected to win the NL Central division by every stats-based projection system. PECOTA, for instance, has them finishing in first place, almost ten games ahead of the second place Milwaukee Brewers, who won the division last year and even eliminated the Cubs from the NLDS.

Actually, the word “expectations” has been an early theme this spring training, thrown out by coaching, front office, and the players themselves.

“Everybody in this industry wants expectations,” manager Craig Counsell told The Athletic. “You work hard to get expectations. You work really hard to build a roster that has expectations, you work really hard to get on a team that has expectations. That’s what we want. We’re truly excited we have expectations. It’s not easy to get them.”

Similarly, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has talked about the high expectations coming into 2026.

“I know the expectations are high, which I think is great,” Hoyer said. “It’s what you want. The excitement in camp is palpable. The players are talking about it. The coaches are talking about it. They’re excited about our team. They’re excited about our group, both from a talent standpoint and from a camaraderie standpoint.”

From front office to coaching to players

Individual players have also used that “e” word as spring training kicks off, talking about the expectations created from stellar performances last season

“That’s the thing about the second year,” pitcher Cade Horton told media, looking back on an incredible rookie season that saw him deliver as, statistically, the best pitcher in baseball from the All-Star break to his season-ending injury in late September. “Now people have expectations. But the expectations don’t change for myself. I’m going to go out there and give my team a chance to win. That’s my expectation. Everyone else’s expectation doesn’t really have a say in how I go about my day.”

But, realistically, expectations do sometimes weigh heavily on people. When much is expected, the pressure gets amplified, especially if things don’t go all that well early on.

The pressure of outdoing the “best case” 2025 Cubs

Last season, the Cubs ran off to a tremendous early success that allowed them to stay afloat as a playoff-bound team through a less-than-stellar second half of the season. Guys like Horton, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Daniel Palencia, and Seiya Suzuki had career years. Carson Kelly was an offensive juggernaut over the first couple months of the season, but below league-average the rest of the way. Matthew Boyd pitched his first healthy season since 2019. Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz, now ex-Cubs, came out of nowhere to become bullpen anchors.

Everything seemed to fall in place last season.

This coming season, though, the Cubs are expected to perform better– and accomplish more– than last year’s “best case scenarios” team did. That’s real pressure. People expecting big things is a good problem to have. It means the front office did a good job of filling holes and getting pieces to their puzzle. But it also makes for some tough mental patches.

None of this is to say that the 2026 Cubs can’t or won’t outperform the 92-win 2025 Cubs. On paper, this squad is an overall better team in so many regards.

But to get to the same place they did last year, they’ll probably have to push harder and be more persistent. This season should be interesting.

The post The Chicago Cubs’ biggest 2026 battle may be internal– expectations appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs had a tremendous season last year, all things considered. They made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and won their first playoff games since 2017.

More News: Chicago Cubs’ Edward Cabrera brings swagger to rotation: “I’m the best”

Although the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers would have an insane year to snatch the NL Central Division and those same Brewers would eliminate the Cubs from the NLDS after Chicago made a true grit comeback from a 0-2 start to the series, 2025 had to be seen as a great success story.

One of the most feel-good of the Cubs’ positives last season was the emergence of top pitching prospect Cade Horton and the incredible run he had in his first season in the majors.

The 24-year-old was not even supposed to be with the big league squad in 2025, but was forced up from Iowa when Shota Imanaga went on the IL with a hamstring injury.

Horton performed well enough in his first tour of big league duty, but then he REALLY took off.

The mind-boggling rise of Cade Horton

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The Cubs’ 2022 no. 1 draft pick dazzled over the second half of the season, going 8-1 and posting an incredible 1.03 ERA in twelve starts after the All-Star break. In that stretch of time, he was, arguably, the best pitcher in all of baseball, eventually earning him an 11-4 record with a 2.67 ERA on the season and a second place finish in Rookie of the Year voting.

Unfortunately for the Cubs, a fractured rib in late September would put Horton on the shelf and keep him from postseason play. His absence from the Cubs’ playoff run presents one of the great “what ifs” regarding the 2025 campaign.

But for those hoping to see Horton have anywhere near that same level of success in 2026, MLB analysts have some bad news.

Horton projected to have a humbling 2026

The various MLB projection systems are unanimous in their belief that the incoming sophomore pitcher will have a significantly more humble showing in 2026.

Fangraphs has Horton finishing with a 4.12 ERA on the season. ZiPS has him with a 3.89 ERA. Steamer has him coming in with an ERA between 4.34-4.55. Fantasy Pros, meanwhile, is the most optimistic with a 3.78 ERA projection.

Brent Maguire of MLB.com recently explained some of the pessimism regarding Horton:

“Cade Horton…just had an excellent rookie campaign, in which he ran a 2.67 ERA across 118 innings and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. There’s no denying that the young starter and former top prospect has a frontline starter upside, but there are obvious areas he needs to improve. Most ERA indicators, like FIP (3.58), expected FIP (4.27) and expected ERA (3.88), pegged him for much higher ERAs, largely stemming from a 33rd percentile strikeout rate.”

Projection systems smack the Cubs hard

The projection systems haven’t been kind to the Cubs as a whole, though. ZiPs, for example, described the deep Cubs rotation as “deep in meh and unexcitement.”

Dan Szymborski, the developer of the computer-based ZiPS projection system, explained his system’s projection of mediocrity:

“ZiPS sees the Cubs as having a very deep rotation that’s also very deep in unexcitement. There’s certainly some upside here, especially in Edward Cabrera, but ZiPS largely views the team as having a whole lot of broadly average starting pitching options. The good news here is that if Justin Steele has any setbacks, ZiPS likes the team’s replacement options. Even with especially bad luck in the injury department, the computer thinks Javier Assad will be adequate — it has him with an ERA considerably lower than his FIP, though some of that is thanks to the stellar Cubs defense — and that Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks would both be far more acceptable as starters if called into duty than they’ve shown so far. Heck, if Colin Rea or even Connor Noland were forced into starting some games, that wouldn’t be an apocalyptic scenario for the Cubs.”

Horton, however, has shown the ability to be absolutely electric. His command, his pitch execution, and his daring as a rookie were elite-tier for much of the 2025 season. Realistically, even if he takes a full step backwards in 2026, he’ll still be a front-of-rotation starter– in a packed rotation where team success doesn’t necessarily depend on a single pitcher’s success.

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The Chicago Cubs have a lot going for them as they head into the 2026 season. Jed Hoyer and the front office have filled in holes and fortified the roster to build upon the successes of a spirited 2025 campaign that saw them make it to Game Five of the NLDS.

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Topping the additions were the pickups of third baseman Alex Bregman and emerging powerhouse pitcher Edward Cabrera. They also restocked a depleted bullpen with four veteran free agent relievers and several next-tier depth pieces.

All in all, the Cubs seem to be in a good place when it comes to living up to the projections that have them winning the NL Central Division and making a deep playoff run.

But this IS baseball and anything that could go sideways MIGHT go sideways. And the Cubs do have some significant concerns for the 2026 campaign. Here’s a look at three areas of concern that should have the Cubs and their fans legit worried.

Injury

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Yes, injury is always a concern for any major league team. In the Cubs’ case, though, there’s reason to move from concern to worry.

For one, most of their starting rotation has significant history of injury.

Matthew Boyd was fortunate to not have run into any injury issues in 2025, but, prior to that, he had suffered through physical setback after physical setback since 2019. Some may say he’s due for an injury of some sort.

Rookie phenom Cade Horton and newcomer Edward Cabrera also have a history of injury throughout their young careers. Last season, Horton was shut down in September with a rib fracture while Cabrera had two stints on the IL with arm issues. Ace Justin Steele, meanwhile, is coming off elbow surgery and is slated for a mid-season return.

Even Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, and swingman Javier Assad spent significant time on the IL last season.

When it comes to position players, Chicago was extremely fortunate in that none of the starters, except for Kyle Tucker, were put on the shelf due to injury. It’s almost a guarantee that they won’t be that fortunate this coming season.

Regression

The Cubs’ offense was overwhelming throughout the first half of last season. To a great extent, it was this first-half drive that motored them comfortably to their postseason berth.

Chief among the driving forces behind their offensive surge were the now departed Kyle Tucker and guys like Pete Crow-Armstrong, Carson Kelly, Michael Busch, and Seiya Suzuki– all players who had career years in 2025.

In 2026, there’s significant chance of regression from all of the above and also a reason to believe that starters Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner may deliver results just a bit below what they were able to achieve last season.

In the area of pitching, Daniel Palencia had an eye-catching season as he came from Triple-A to win the closer gig on the big league squad. His late-season fade, though, gives some cause for concern about his long-term viability in that role. This was, after all, his first sustained run at the major league level and also his first run at being a full-time closer. A gambling man might wager that the 25-year-old is due for a heftier ERA than his 2.91 last season (which was still under 1.90 heading into late August) and a tougher time keeping his gig as the Cubs’ full-time closer.

Catching

This is a very specific one, but it highlights, arguably, the biggest potential weak point on the roster.

Carson Kelly, offensively, had a career year in 2025, despite the modest .249 batting average, 17 home run, 50 RBI season totals. However, he had an outstanding first half of the season, hitting 12 of his 17 home runs and driving in 33 of his 50 RBIs before the All-Star break.

What he brings defensively and in terms of pitcher handling is a plus to the Cubs and worth him keeping his starting gig, regardless of his offensive production. But the picture behind him is not all that secure.

Miguel Amaya was good last season, in the little time he was actually healthy. Long, prolonged injury over multiple IL stints limited the 26-year-old to just 28 games and 103 plate appearances. And this, unfortunately, was not an unusual turn of events in the young catcher’s young career. Amaya has been injury-prone throughout his professional run.

Behind Kelly and Amaya, there’s Moises Ballesteros. Listed as, technically, the third catcher on the team, the rookie will be there entirely for his hitting prowess and not for a defense that can be generously described as a work in progress. Former Cub Christian Bethancourt was brought back to the team on a minor league contract, but if he gets the call-up, that means there’s big trouble with the catching situation in Chicago.

There’s plenty to be optimistic about as the Cubs head into the 2026 season, but it’s just statement of reality that the team is also counting on a lot of good fortune.

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The Chicago Cubs had been eyeing hard-throwing right-hander Edward Cabrera for quite awhile, with buzz linking them to the Miami Marlins pitcher dating back to early last season. This offseason, they pulled the trigger on the trade to bring him aboard.

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The 27-year-old Cabrera will join a Cubs starting rotation that includes Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, and returning ace Justin Steele, who may be back from elbow surgery sometime around the All-Star break.

If/when everyone stays healthy and Steele stays on schedule, this will give Chicago six viable starters, plus two capable swing men in Colin Rea and Javier Assad along with long shots Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks, and top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins waiting in the wings.

Uncertainty in Cubs’ pitching depth

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On paper, this seems to be an embarrassment of riches. In reality, though, there’s a lot of uncertainty up and down the rotation, especially when it comes to durability. Boyd, Horton, and Cabrera all have significant history of injury. Steele is coming off major elbow surgery. Meanwhile, Taillon and Imanaga both spent significant time on the IL last season.

So, what can the Cubs do to preserve their arms and ensure that their best starters make it to the postseason?

Some have suggested a move to a 6-man rotation, which would give each pitcher an additional day of rest between starts.

It’s more likely, though, that manager Craig Counsell and company may look to an NL powerhouse, the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, for the answer.

Adopting the Dodgers model

The Dodgers’ rotation was strained throughout the majority of the regular season due to injury, with only Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivering more than 112.2 innings as a starter.

But Los Angeles was judicious with the return of injured/recovering starters Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and even Shohei Ohtani. Careful and conservative with their respective comebacks, they were able to reintroduce all three to the rotation just in time for the pennant push and, more importantly, the postseason.

The strategy paid off as Yamamoto and the reasonably fresh threesome of Glasnow, Blake, and Ohtani accounted for more than 68% of the innings pitched in the postseason in another winning World Series run for the Dodgers.

Justin Steele

It’s not hard to imagine the Cubs following that blueprint with their own rotation, especially with Steele, who could be key to the team’s postseason success. Over the last four years, Steele has been Chicago’s most reliable and effective starter, posting a 3.18 ERA over 82 starts in that period of time.

“It’s just one of those math equations you’re going to have to do,” Steele said of the timeline for his 2026 return, “because Dr. Meister [Steele’s surgeon and supervising physician] is going to probably have some innings limit [in mind].”

“That definitely eases your mind,” Steele added, referring to the Cubs’ rotation depth and the lack of rush to get him back in the mix, “knowing that it’s not a race to get back for Opening Day or something…So there’s definitely some comfortability knowing that I don’t have to rush.”

Given the Cubs’ starting pitching depth, it’s quite possible that the team could have multiple starters on an informal innings limit over the course of the season, maybe capped at four innings or so, with Rea, Assad, Brown, or Wicks serving as second-half-of-game starters to finish things off.

With this plan in place, the Cubs could walk into the playoffs with a solid core of fresh and effective starting pitchers and, subsequently, a fresh, rested bullpen as well. Last postseason, Chicago wilted in the NLDS, dragging along a taxed rotation that had been whittled down to two viable pitchers.

While the Cubs don’t have the mega-bank studs that LA has, this conserve and preserve strategy definitely would give them stronger footing if/when they make their 2026 postseason run.

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The Chicago Cubs made headlines when they pulled the trigger on the trade they had been tied to since last trade deadline. The deal to acquire Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins cost the team their no. 1 prospect Owen Caissie and two other solid young talents, but most everyone agreed that the price was worth paying.

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By most accounts, the hard-throwing 27-year-old righty is an emerging powerhouse starter who turned the corner on his progress last season. In acquiring him, they also got three years of team control at a discount price until he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2028 season.

Now, the Cubs get to drop Cabrera into a starting rotation that also includes Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Jameson Taillon, and Shota Imanaga, with injured ace Justin Steele possibly making his comeback before the All-Star break.

All good news, right?

Not exactly.

Cubs starting rotation gets ugly ZiPS projection

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A prominent MLB projection system doesn’t think all that highly of a starting rotation that’s generating widespread enthusiasm among Cubs fans.

The well-respected ZiPS is not convinced by the starting staff put together by Jed Hoyer and the front office, describing the admittedly deep rotation as also being “deep in meh.”

The Cubs’ rotation is projected to have just a combined 11.2 WAR next season, ranking them 19th in the league in starting pitching.

Dan Szymborski, the developer of the computer-based ZiPS projection system, elaborated on the projection of mediocrity:

“ZiPS sees the Cubs as having a very deep rotation that’s also very deep in unexcitement. There’s certainly some upside here, especially in Edward Cabrera, but ZiPS largely views the team as having a whole lot of broadly average starting pitching options. The good news here is that if Justin Steele has any setbacks, ZiPS likes the team’s replacement options. Even with especially bad luck in the injury department, the computer thinks Javier Assad will be adequate — it has him with an ERA considerably lower than his FIP, though some of that is thanks to the stellar Cubs defense — and that Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks would both be far more acceptable as starters if called into duty than they’ve shown so far. Heck, if Colin Rea or even Connor Noland were forced into starting some games, that wouldn’t be an apocalyptic scenario for the Cubs.”

Nearly the same or worse next season

Specifically, ZiPS sees Boyd and Horton falling somewhat flat next year, down slightly in WAR in 2026 (down .1 for Boyd and .3 for Horton). Imanaga and Taillon, meanwhile, are projected to achieve minor gains over last season ( up .4 WAR for Imanaga and .2 WAR for Taillon). Cabrera is projected to finish the season with a 1.9 WAR, which would place his impact on the team somewhere between what Boyd and Imanaga had in 2025. The projection system gives the returning Steele a 1.5 WAR, despite not knowing exactly when he might actually pitch.

But…

Being projected as a bottom-half starting rotation (along with the projection of a middle-of-the-pack bullpen) is not great news.

It should be taken into consideration, however, that this Cubs staff has a lot of intangibles swirling around it. Imanaga could conceivably have a nice rebound after a rough second half of 2025. Nobody is quite sure when Steele will return to full-time duty. Cabrera’s ability to perform in a new city under a new system is still an unknown factor.

There’s also the uncertainty surrounding a rotation full of durability and injury issues. A full year of a healthy Horton, for example, would make a major impact, even if his rookie year performance over the second half of the season proves to be an outlier run.

Overall, though, it’s just hard to look at the Cubs rotation, one through five, extending to Steele (with Colin Rea and Javier Assad as backups), and see extreme “meh.” We shall see.

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The Chicago Cubs seem pretty much set for 2026. Roster holes have been filled and questions have been sorted out. The additions of Alex Bregman, Edward Cabrera, and four free agent relievers to restock a depleted bullpen have left fans satisfied that all the heavy lifting ahead of the 2026 season has been done.

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There’s still some fine tuning to be done, though, as the bench (especially at outfield) could be fortified and, as is always the case, there can never be too much pitching.

All in all, barring unforeseen injury or setback, the Cubs will confidently be going to war with the crew they currently have. Time will tell if it’s enough to get them to a championship or even to a deeper playoff run than last season.

But what about the future?

Cubs’ weak showing in Top 100 prospects list

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Baseball America’s recently released list of the Top 100 prospects in the sport doesn’t paint a very positive picture of the team’s future. In total, the Cubs only have two prospects in the top 100– C/DH Moises Ballesteros (no. 36) and RHP Jaxon Wiggins (no. 78).

The lack of Cubs representation shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, considering the top-heavy status of the team’s farm system and the fact that many of their top prospects have graduated to the majors over the last two seasons (with Ballesteros likely to make the big league squad this season and a possibility of Wiggins doing so at some point in 2026 as well). There’s also the Cabrera trade with the Miami Marlins, which featured former Cubs top prospect Owen Caissie.

Chicago did, however, have three prospects named among Baseball America’s “20 MLB Prospects Who Just Missed The 2026 Top 100” (SS/2B Jefferson Rojas, OF Ethan Conrad, and OF Kane Kepley). OF Kevin Alcantara and 1B Jonathon Long also got at least one vote apiece from the publication’s rankings panel.

The outlook for the future

Still, the Cubs’ dearth of high-level prospects and a thinning out of the previously deep Triple-A class has to be troubling for the big-picture. Some of the draining of the farm system can be traced to trades for Kyle Tucker and Edward Cabrera the last two seasons, which cost the team no. 1 draft pick Cam Smith and projected major league starting right fielder Caissie. At the trade deadline last season they dealt their Nos. 13 and 14 prospects, SS Ronny Cruz and OF Christian Franklin, to the Washington Nationals for swingman Michael Soroka, who was injured and IL-bound just two innings into his Chicago debut.

The scary part for the Cubs is that the lower levels of the organization look to be even thinner in talent than the thinned-out Triple-A level.

But…on the bright side…

Not everything, though, is as “doomy and gloomy” as it may appear to be on paper.

The Cubs are stacked with 20-something talent at the major league level that should be around for years to come, such as Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Cade Horton, Daniel Palencia, Matt Shaw, Miguel Amaya, Cabrera, and Ballesteros. Wiggins, meanwhile, might just be a tweak away from making the big league roster. There’s time to restock the farm system with savvy draft selections and imported prospects via trade.

If they somehow find themselves out of contention this season, it’s a guarantee that they would move at least some of their veteran talent on expiring contracts (like Jameson Taillon and Nico Hoerner) for choice prospects.

But while there’s no need to worry too much about the Cubs’ immediate future right now, the front office does needs to focus on refilling a farm system well that has been pumped almost dry.

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The Chicago Cubs went out and made the deal this offseason for the pitcher they had been linked to since last season’s trade deadline. In a trade that cost them their top prospect Owen Caissie and two infield prospects, the Cubs brought aboard right-hander Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins.

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Despite the feel-good vibes generated by this acquisition and the tremendous upside with Cabrera, there are definite risks involved in this move. The 6-foot-5 power pitcher, in what many see as a breakthrough year, had to be paused twice last season due to arm issues and has a history of injury throughout his pro career.

In that regard, Cabrera fits in with the rest of the proposed Cubs rotation, which is also filled with question marks regarding durability and health.

A rotation full of durability questions

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The oft-injured Matthew Boyd, with his surgically-repaired arm, smashed all expectations last season by avoiding the IL and delivering 179.2 innings in the regular season and 9.2 innings in the playoffs. Shota Imanaga missed almost eight weeks with a hamstring issue that may or may not have thrown off his game for the rest of the season. Jameson Taillon had two separate stints on the IL last year. Rookie revelation Cade Horton, who has an extensive history of injury throughout college and the minors, went down with fractured ribs in late September and missed out on the postseason entirely. Ace Justin Steele, meanwhile, only managed four starts before a season-ending injury that required elbow surgery (It’s estimated that he could return to the rotation around mid-season).

So, what do you do with a rotation where every single starter carries a significant risk of injury?

Cubs considering a 6-man rotation?

The idea of going from a 5-man rotation to a 6-man rotation is currently being considered by the team, according to MLB insider Bruce Levine:

“Depending on pitching staff health, the Cubs will be exploring using a six man rotation this season. Past injuries to Imanaga, Steele and a veteran mix of Boyd and Taillon makes this a logical approach. Rea and Assad are excellent swing men. 7 bullpen guys is a challenge.”

The idea has been brought up before, as recently as early last season when the Cubs’ rotation also gave some signs of frailty. This year, though, there seems to be more substance behind the buzz– and maybe an even greater need to keep the starters healthy over the long haul as the team aims for an extended postseason run.

Sam Olbur of the Locked on Cubs podcast is all for this 6-man rotation proposal:

“I love the idea. I think it really benefits some of these guys. I think if Boyd had an extra day, his last five, six, seven, eight starts. If Shota got an extra day every start. Man, I really think that benefits these guys and I’m interested in seeing it. Even a guy like Cabrera, who battled his injuries…I think it just benefits everybody. The Cubs don’t really have a guy on their team…to where, you’re like, ‘every fifth day, that guy’s going seven innings, he’s throwing 200 innings a year.’ They really don’t have that guy.”

Maintaining the rotation over the long haul

And all of that is true. In the absence of a workhorse to eat innings, the Cubs will have to do whatever they can to make sure they have a strong core of starters throughout the pennant race and into the playoffs.

There will be the risk of throwing off the rhythm of starters used to a 5-man rotation. There will also be an added strain on the bullpen, which will then only be able to carry seven relievers rather than the customary eight.

The Cubs have depth when it comes to their rotation and at least three possible swing men– Colin Rea, Javier Assad, and Ben Brown– who can switch between starting duties and long relief. If the 6-man rotation idea is implemented, it may be put into play later in the season and maybe in spots where the schedule is less forgiving. It’s just as likely, though, that the starters’ innings will be monitored and long relief options employed more often.

As everyone learned last year when the Cubs’ rotation limped its way through the playoffs with only two viable starters, a team can never have enough pitching…and pitching options. Fortunately, the 2026 Cubs, barring a crazy rash of injuries, look to have the needed depth to make it over the long haul.

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The Chicago Cubs have not exactly lit the offseason baseball world on fire. Despite a lot of bullish talk and plenty of “we’re going after so and so” PR leaked to media, the team’s entire talent haul so far consists of relievers Phil Maton and Hoby Milner, plus a couple of minor league-level depth pieces.

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And although one would like to be positive that much more will be done before heading into the 2026 season, the only really big Cubs stories, so far, seem to center around the guys they ALMOST got (like Dylan Cease and Devin Williams).

Recent history and spending patterns suggest that the Cubs may fall back on their usual frugal strategy of pursuing bargain talent and players looking for a short-term reclamation opportunity.

That’s a frustrating reality when taking pitching into consideration, where there is a legitimate and glaring need for another high-end starter, a closer-capable reliever, and more depth pieces for a depleted bullpen.

Jaxon Wiggins: The last of the Cubs’ homegrown arms?

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The situation becomes especially frustrating when one realizes that the Cubs’ farm system is probably not going to contribute much to the pitching picture in 2026.

The possible exception to that is Jaxon Wiggins.

The 24-year-old made the climb from Double-A to Triple-A last season, amid plenty of concern regarding rehabbed injury (He had Tommy John surgery in 2023) and fatigue. The organization made a concerted effort to cap his innings pitched and keep an eye on the wear and tear on his arm, but he managed to excel under those watchful eyes.

Across three levels in 2025, the 6-foot-6 righty posted a 2.19 ERA in 78 innings with 97 total strikeouts.

There’s a lot to like in Wiggins, the team’s overall no. 3 prospect, but he may be the Cubs’ only internal hope for an impact arm for awhile. After him and the injury-plagued no. 9 prospect Brandon Birdsell, there isn’t a pitcher within sniffing distance of the majors until Connor Noland in the no. 22 prospect slot.

The Cade Horton of 2026?

The Cubs would be beyond ecstatic if Wiggins could be the Cade Horton of 2026, making a surprise rise to the majors and establishing himself as a “for real” big league asset. Horton, who finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, turned heads after an emergency call-up in May and eventually became one of the best pitchers in all of baseball from July until his end-of-season rib injury in late September.

“That’s obviously a high bar,” Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, regarding the major league hopes for Wiggins. “If he could do half of what Cade Horton did, that would be awesome. But I think he’s shown that he can get upper-level hitters out. It’s really just getting over the health and the command hurdle. If he does that, he’s got a chance to help us out.”

The real thing?

Hawkins and the Cubs are extremely high on their top pitching prospect and have thus far avoided any and all trade talk involving him.

“A lot of explosiveness,” Hawkins said of Wiggins’ game, “(with) a breaking ball that’s going to miss bats and a fastball that’s going to miss bats. He’s turned that up into the upper 90s and into the 100s. It’s really just about landing them and being consistent with the command.

“He’s just one of those guys that kind of oozes potential. It’s just a matter of corralling all of it. There’s a lot of paths for Jaxon. It could be as an upper-end starter if he’s able to command. It could be a guy you see in a bullpen at some point. It could be both.”

Wiggins, like Horton before him, has a considerable history of injury, but he represents, perhaps, the Cubs’ last real chance to elevate a homegrown impact arm before a few coming years of nothingness.

Whether Chicago goes on to make a big pitching acquisition or not, it’s a sure thing that the organization will be watching Wiggins closely in hopes of getting him to the big leagues as soon as humanly possible. Everybody’s hoping 2026 is that year.

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The Chicago Cubs vowed to be fully focused on pitching this offseason after a playoff run that ended, in great part, due to a lack of depth in both the rotation and bullpen. So far, they’ve lived up to their promise.

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They settled up with lefty Shota Imanaga, bringing back the starter on a mutually agreed-upon one-year, $22 million qualifying offer deal. Chicago, tasked with rebuilding almost their entire bullpen, also signed veteran free agent reliever Phil Maton to a two-year, $14.5 million contract (with an option for a third year).

Obviously, though, there’s a lot more work to be done.

Chicago Cubs pitching needs

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A conservative estimate would be that the Cubs need to add at least 3-4 sure-thing arms to the bullpen, as well as some quality depth pieces. They also need to add at least one more high-end starter to their rotation.

The Cubs had been linked to former Cubs prospect Dylan Cease, but the hard-throwing righty just signed a 7-year, $210 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. Other pitchers on a Cubs wish list, like Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez, seem more like fan fiction at this point.

But one free agent starting pitching name has kept popping up in Cubs talk this offseason and it might be nice to feel that, in this case, where there’s smoke, there’s at least the inkling of a fire.

Michael King, linked to the Cubs again

Michael King, the Padres’ second-best departing starter behind Cease, remains a potential Cubs target and, at the very least, a logical fit for the team’s needs.

Andy McCullough of The Athletic, writing about one Black Friday 2025 free-agent deal for each MLB team, ties the 30-year-old King to the Cubs.

Per McCullough:

“The Cubs may well get out-bid for the services of King by a team more willing to pay top dollar for a talented pitcher who has not yet proved he can handle the rigor of a full season as a starter. But King has an elevated ceiling, perhaps the highest of any pitcher on the market, and likely won’t require a long-term deal.”

Not too long ago, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney, also of The Athletic, talked up the Cubs’ apparent interest in the free agent:

“Michael King is another pitcher the Cubs have on their radar, viewing him as a starter with big upside when healthy. His work ethic, intelligence and feel for pitching are attributes that the Cubs previously targeted with free agents such as Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd.”

High-ceiling, significant risk

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden projects that King could go for $75 million over three years. It’s a price that would stretch the boundaries of the Cubs’ per-year desire to spend. However, the relative short 3-year contract would be appealing to their conservative sensibilities as well.

But, while King’s ceiling is high and his ability to miss bats would be welcomed, there’s also some considerable risk involved in such a deal, hence only a projected 3-year contract.

The former reliever followed up his stellar first year as a full-time starter with a 2025 hampered by a nerve issue in his right shoulder and, later, a knee injury. The physical issues limited him to just 15 starts, although he still managed to finish the year with a very solid 3.44 ERA.

When healthy, King is elite. In 2024, he finished the year with a 2.95 ERA and 201 strikeouts over 173.2 innings. The question with him is whether he’ll get back to being healthy in 2026 and beyond. It’s a similar risk to the one the Cubs took in signing the injury prone Matthew Boyd to a 2-year, $29 million deal, just at a higher AAV with, arguably, a greater upside attached to King’s success.

There’s a lot to like about a possible King-Cubs marriage. The promise of a returning Justin Steele and a complete year of a fully-actualized Cade Horton would take some of the pressure off the incoming arm as he settles into his new home. In a best case scenario, a pitcher like King could make the difference between targeting a playoff berth and making a legitimate run at a championship.

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The Chicago Cubs had a disappointing end to their baseball year, going down in Game 5 of the NLDS to the Milwaukee Brewers after battling their way up from a 0-2 deficit in the series. But the season, as a whole, was a positive, filled with pleasant surprises.

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Among those pleasant surprises were a handful of young talents who emerged as high-end major league assets.

23-year-old Pete Crow-Armstrong, specifically, earned acclaim as a superstar-in-the-making as he showcased his multi-tool ability. Before the All-Star break, he had already crushed 25 home runs and had notched 71 RBIs, while stealing 27 bases, as he displayed an almost superhuman defense in center field.

Cade Horton started 2025 as the Cubs’ top pitching prospect, regarded as at least one year away from being major league-ready. Pitching injuries in early May led to him being brought up from Iowa much sooner than expected. The then-23-year-old performed solidly and impressed with his poise and confidence. Then, he blew up and became truly dominant. With a 1.03 ERA in 12 starts after the All-Star break, he earned recognition as the best pitcher in all of baseball during that stretch, until a rib injury ended his season in late September.

From pleasant surprises to harsh realities

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PCA and Horton were just two of several other pleasant surprises in 2025.

But, if projections are correct, a storybook 2025 may give way to some harsh reality in 2026.

FanGraphs’ Steamer projections paint a picture of widespread regression among Cubs’ stars, but the outlook is especially dismal when it comes to the team’s young talent.

Crow-Armstrong, for example, is projected to finish 2026 with his power numbers way down from last season, forecast to finish the year with just 20 home runs and 64 RBIs. His projected .251 batting average is just a tick higher than his .247 average in 2025.

Horton is projected to have an even more prodigious fall from grace with an 8-9 record and 4.33 ERA in 2026 after an 11-4, 2.67 ERA rookie season.

Other reality checks?

First baseman Michael Busch, who affirmed his status as a big league star with 34 home runs on 90 RBIs last season, is projected to hit just 24 dingers with 65 RBIs in 2026.

Nico Hoerner, who many feel is the Cubs’ best second baseman since Ryne Sandberg, performed well all season, but was especially red-hot down the stretch and in the playoffs. In 2026, FanGraphs projects him to hit .284, thirteen points below his .297 mark last year.

Daniel Palencia, who came up from the minors early in the season and earned his spot as the team’s closer, is projected to finish 2026 with a 3.61 ERA following a 2.91 ERA in 2025.

Chicago Cubs are downward-bound across the board

This predicted downward-bound trajectory is not just among the team’s young stars. The analytics company has targeted everybody as due for regression in the coming year. Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Dansby Swanson, and Ian Happ are all projected to have diminished power numbers. Pitchers Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, and Jameson Taillon, meanwhile, are all predicted to have significantly elevated ERAs from their 2025 showings.

Third baseman Matt Shaw is actually the only Cub projected to have a better year in 2026. That improvement, however, is minimal– a .242 batting average over 2025’s .226, with 15 home runs versus last year’s 13.

It should be pointed out that while FanGraphs’ projections are generally regarded as one of the most accurate and reliable projection systems around, they are not infallible. Their Cubs projections ahead of the 2025 season, for example, were similarly conservative, bordering on pessimistic. (They projected PCA with just 20 home runs, for example).

However, there’s plenty of food for thought in FanGraphs’ numbers. Crow-Armstrong probably isn’t as good as his first-half performance last year and certainly not as bad as his second-half showing. There’s also the question of how much an absent Kyle Tucker will diminish the collective offensive effort. On the pitching side, there’s reason to believe that Horton, Boyd, and Palencia overperformed and are due for a more humbling season this coming year.

As is always the case, time will tell. March/April is still a long ways away.

The post Chicago Cubs young stars projected to have disastrous 2026 appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs are definitely okay with Shota Imanaga being back in the starting rotation for 2026. They wouldn’t have extended him the $22 million qualifying offer if they weren’t.

More News: Why the Chicago Cubs need to stay far away from incoming Japanese free agent star

The problem all along seemed to be investing in a third year when it comes to a 32-year-old whose home run issues started becoming a genuine problem, with 12 home runs given up in his last six regular season starts and two horrendous playoff outings. That’s why they declined their 3-year, $57 million option on the Japanese star. The feeling is that Imanaga is more than capable of turning things around in 2026, but that it would be too much of a gamble to bank on him staying on track for 2027 and 2028 as well.

In turn, Imanaga did his part and turned away his 2-year, $30 million player option. The Cubs then followed up with the qualifying offer, which was a win-win of sorts as they still had a chance of retaining the lefty’s services for one season, but also stood to gain draft pick compensation should he be lost in free agency.

As things would turn out, Imanaga accepted the Cubs’ offer on Tuesday, postponing a free agent run until after next season. He rejoins a starting rotation also featuring Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Jameson Taillon, and a returning (at some point) Justin Steele, along with backups Javier Assad and Colin Rea.

Hello again, Shota Imanaga; Goodbye free agent studs?

More News: Chicago Cubs urged to reconsider possible interest in Dylan Cease

The big question for fans, though, is whether Imanaga’s return will impact the Cubs’ publicly declared pursuit of pitching this winter.

According to a payroll projection from FanGraphs, the Cubs’ payroll now sits at just over $191 million after counting in Imanaga return (also counting arbitration-related salary increases). That places the team about $53 million under the first luxury tax threshold of $244 million.

Assuming the Cubs will want a buffer for in-season acquisitions, a safe assumption would be that the team will have about $35-40 million to play with this offseason– if Cubs ownership allows the front offices to spend up to the threshold.

Would it also be a safe assumption that this might take the Cubs out of the running for a high-end free agent starting pitcher?

Money, money, money

ESPN is projecting top-of-the-mark free agents Dylan Cease and Framber Valdez to pull in multi-year contracts making $29 million and $28 million, respectively. If those projections prove to be accurate, that would leave the Cubs with just about $11-$12 million with which to rebuild their bullpen and acquire at least two reliable bench assets. This also means, by the way, that Kyle Tucker is a goner– if this hasn’t been made obvious already.

It most definitely doesn’t seem in character for the Cubs to overshoot budget markers, even though they could justify it this offseason with so many contracts potentially going off the books at the end of 2026 (Imanaga, Boyd, Taillon, Rea, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, Carson Kelly).

Chicago Cubs, once again bargain hunters?

So, this means Chicago will, again, most likely do their free agent shopping in the bargain bin. Using the justification that they will have five strong starting pitchers and two capable backups, they will likely aim low when it comes to starters, maybe opting for reclamation projects on a one-year deal.
Their bullpen approach will be similar, as they search for under-the-radar assets at a bargain price.

The biggest chance at adding an impact arm will be via trade, as the Cubs are rumored to be interested in the Marlins’ Edward Cabrera and loosely tied to pitchers such as the Twins’ Joe Ryan and the Royals’ Kris Bubic. Cabrera would be especially appealing to Chicago as he’s under contract through 2028, making club-friendly money.

Barring a big trade, though, this winter may turn out to be a dud of an offseason as ownership braces itself for a bad blood labor dispute in 2027 and a likely lockout.

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The Chicago Cubs, if they’re serious about making a deep playoff run in 2026 and possibly even having a chance at a championship, need to get serious about their pitching.

More News: Chicago Cubs: Updates on the Cubs’ 5 most vital free agents

Being serious means that they have to stop shopping exclusively in the bargain bin, looking for reclamation projects and fringe arms on a budget, gambling on pleasant surprises. The Cubs were very fortunate last season that the bet on Matthew Boyd paid off and that Cade Horton came up from the minors to have a remarkable run in the starting rotation. Colin Rea also performed above expectations in 2025.

If things had played out according to reasonable expectations from Boyd, Horton, and even Rea, Chicago may have finished lower in the standings and nowhere near a playoff spot.

This coming season, the team can’t count on Boyd and Horton– two players with significant histories of injury– to replicate last season’s success and Rea, by all accounts, may find himself in the bullpen, working long relief and spot starting. Shota Imanaga, meanwhile, may be gone altogether, after the Cubs declined his option.

Pitching as the primary focus

More News: Chicago Cubs urged to reconsider possible interest in Dylan Cease

Sure, Justin Steele is due back from elbow surgery at some point in the season. But the Cubs are going to need much more than half-a-season of a rehabbed Steele and crossed fingers that everyone else holds up. They’ll also, by the way, be tasked with rebuilding almost their entire bullpen. That’s why the team, itself, has declared pitching it’s primary focus this winter.

“We’re gonna have an active offseason,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told reporters at the GM meetings in Las Vegas. “Take that for what it’s worth. I think the largest focus will be on pitching; I think that’s obvious looking at our depth chart. We’re in pretty good position on the position player side; on the pitching side, we’re thinner.”

Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report is taking Hoyer at his word and predicting that the Cubs will actually go deep in their free agent spending, specifically when it comes to starting pitchers.

Targeting an ace as well as a veteran?

First, Kelly projects the Cubs to land lefty ace Framber Valdez, formerly of the Astros.

Per Kelly:

“The Cubs probably need to find a way to add multiple impact starters to go with Matthew Boyd and Cade Horton. Framber Valdez would be a good name to start with…

Since the start of the 2022 season, Valdez is second among all starters in innings pitched (767.2) and fifth in WAR (16.5), per FanGraphs…

Valdez is not without faults as a free agent. First of all, he’s entering his age-32 season, so he’s a couple years older than some of the other arms available this winter, such as Suárez, Cease and Gallen. Secondly, while he was an All-Star this past year, he struggled in the second half of the season, posting a 5.20 ERA after the Midsummer Classic.”

Kelly estimates the Valdez contract at $114 million over four years with a $25 million club option for 2030.

The analyst also ties the Cubs to right-hander Lucas Giolito, as the veteran’s fall-back option behind the Yankees. He estimates the free agent contract of the former White Sox mainstay to be two-years at $43 million with a $20 million club option for 2028. The 31-year-old had a bounce back year in 2025, posting a 3.41 ERA over 26 starts after three consecutive seasons full of injury and inconsistency.

A rebuilt Chicago Cubs starting rotation

Adding Valdez and Giolito to the Cubs’s starting five would certainly signify a major shift in club philosophy regarding spending on pitchers. It would also fortify the rotation ahead of 2027 when Boyd and Jameson Taillon could be gone via free agency.

A rotation of Valdez, Boyd, Horton, Taillon, and Steele, with Giolito worked into the mix somewhere, would be elite. It would also free up names such as Javier Assad and Ben Brown to be moved via trade for bullpen talent and/or a quality role player for the bench.

But banking on the Cubs spending $157 million for six years of pitching reads a little like fan fiction, given the team’s historically frugal ways. Maybe one or the other could be signed, with hopes and prayers affixed to them targeting Valdez over Giolito. But, even then, it’s hard to be optimistic.

Maybe the team’s big pitching acquisition will come via trade, as rumored. Maybe they’ll just fall back on working the fringes of free agency, looking to grab the right arm at the right time for the most team-friendly contract. As always, time will tell.

The post Chicago Cubs tied to $157 million possible pitching power grab this winter appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs fell short in their ultimate goal this season but there were still some positives to takeaway. One of the biggest positives is the development of pitcher Cade Horton.

The former No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma made his debut this season for the Cubs and put together a really good year. Horton dazzled from the start, becoming one of the Cubs’ top pitchers.

Although his season was cut short late due to a back issue, Horton made a good impression. Now, he’s up for a major award in the first year of his career.

Cade Horton a finalist for NL Rookie of the Year

The 24-year-old Horton was named one of three finalists for the NL Rookie of the Year Award, announced on Monday. He’s going up against Milwaukee’s Caleb Durbin and Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin for the award.

He was called up on May 10th, joining the Cubs rotation which was hit by injuries. The Cubs lost Justin Steele early in the season and then saw Shota Imanaga go on the IL later on in the year. But Horton remained a steady presence, putting together an impressive rookie campaign.

Your 2025 @officialBBWAA NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award finalists:

Drake Baldwin
Caleb Durbin
Cade Horton pic.twitter.com/TQqqOcsdzX

— MLB (@MLB) November 3, 2025

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The Chicago Cubs limped into the final games of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers, carrying with them a strained, battered pitching staff held together by true grit and manager Craig Counsell’s savvy guidance.

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Right before their elimination in Game Five, the Cubs were down to two semi-reliable starters (Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd) and maybe three relievers worthy to be in Counsell’s circle of trust.

But there was a lesson to be learned at the end of the Cubs’ postseason run. They need pitching. They need the kind pitching that makes a good team into a credible championship team. They need the kind of pitching that can’t be built around coupon cutting, bargain bin shopping, and the cross-your-fingers hope of pitchers wildly overperforming.

The unbelievable World Series MVP performance of the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto should highlight just how much of an impact elite starting pitching can provide to a serious championship-level team.

Chicago Cubs starting pitching: Insurance needed

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The Cubs are also staring down the distinct possibility that there may be some regression from starters Boyd and rookie Cade Horton, who both have a history of injury and could be looking at some slippage from their 2025 showing. Shota Imanaga faded down the stretch and was horrible in the postseason. The fall from grace was so prodigious that there’s no guarantee Chicago will even pick up his option for next season. Justin Steele, meanwhile, is not a lock to return to form after elbow surgery last April.

With that in mind, the Cubs need to be focusing on acquiring some real pitching muscle this offseason. Media and fans are already looking ahead to how the team can do just that.

First, though, it would probably be wise to disregard any of the top free agent starting pitchers available. Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Michael King, Zac Gallen and Shane Bieber will all be too rich for the tastes of Cubs ownership, which has not invested in a front-of-rotation free agent starter since Yu Darvish in 2018 (and then proceeded to trade him away, three years into a six-year deal). Despite the buzz regarding the team’s interest in Cease, it just doesn’t seem likely that they’ll be fishing in deep waters for the big pitching fish.

So, that leaves trade as the only way to add a high-end starter.

Trade targets?

The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, in a recent Boston Red Sox mailbag column, talked up the potential asking price for right-hander Joe Ryan from the Minnesota Twins. The info relayed to her suggests a very affordable deal for a front-two starter who still has two years before free agency.

Per McCaffrey:

“Dan Hayes, The Athletic’s Twins writer, suggested Minnesota would be seeking two top-50 prospects, one with a mid-ceiling and one more of a lottery ticket.”

The Cubs are not overstuffed with top prospects at this point. So, one can assume that approaching the Twins for Ryan would mean probably giving up someone like Owen Caissie or Moises Ballesteros and Jonathon Long/Jefferson Rojas/James Triantos.

Chicago’s willingness to make such a deal would hinge on their willingness to gamble on winning big these next two seasons.

Controllable arms

Ryan was a sought-after asset at the trade deadline last season, but the Twins opted to hold on to him. The Nationals’ Mackenzie Gore, the Pirates’ Mitch Keller, and the Florida Marlins duo of Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera were also tied to the Cubs at the deadline

Ryan, Gore and Alcantara will become free agents at the end of the 2027 season. Cabrera and Keller won’t become free agents until after the 2028 season.

If the goal is controllable pitching without the free agent mega-contracts, a trade will be the way to go, even if it costs a good chunk of prospect capital.

Another option is more Cubs-like, though– look for reclamation projects, gamble on pleasant surprises, and hope for the best.

The post Chicago Cubs’ target no. 1: Picking up an ace on the cheap appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs, per very early reports, are targeting front-of-rotation pitching this offseason. Specifically, they have their eyes on the San Diego Padres’ hard-throwing right-hander Dylan Cease, according to various media reports.

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Cease, who turns 30 on December 28, will officially become a free agent shortly after the World Series and is expected to move on from the Padres in search of greener pastures and a more lucrative contract.

The question is whether the Cubs would be that team to provide the payday he’s expected to command (estimated at $158 million over six years by Spotrac), especially with plenty of other teams also looking to add a high-end starter heading into 2026.

Chicago Cubs have legit interest in Dylan Cease

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MLB insider Bruce Levin feels that, at the very least, the Cubs are in the running and considered a top contender for the services of their former top prospect, who they traded to the White Sox back in 2017.

“According to MLB insiders I know, people in the know in other organizations, they feel the Cubs will be there among the top suitors (for Dylan Cease),” Levine said during an interview with 670 the Score. “I would say it’s highly likely – like for sure – that he’s going to be looked at by the Cubs and be continued to be pursued.”

On the surface, this reported interest in Cease flies in the face of what would normally be expected of Cubs ownership and the front office. Chicago has shied away from big-ticket free agent starting pitching since signing Yu Darvish to a multi-year contract in 2018.

The Cubs’ current rotation seems already set from one to five, with Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Cade Horton, and a returning Justin Steele. Colin Rea and Javier Assad will also be around as backup.

But, realistically, there’s a great deal of uncertainty when it comes their starting five.

Starting pitching concerns

The Cubs still have to decide whether to pick up their option on Imanaga, who faded considerably as last season progressed and collapsed completely in the postseason. Boyd had a remarkable bounce back season after a long stretch of injury, but he also began to fade late in the season. There’s considerable concern that he’ll experience some degree of regression this coming season. Horton was a surprise breakthrough asset and, arguably, the best pitcher in all of baseball through the second half of 2025. However, the rookie has a history of injury and missed the final days of the regular season, along with the entire postseason, due to another physical setback. And when it comes to Steele, there’s no guarantee when, exactly, he’ll come back from his elbow surgery and whether he’ll be as dependable as he’s been in previous years.

Chicago also needs to take into consideration that Taillon and Boyd will become free agents at the end of the 2026 season, along with Rea.

So, it does make sense for the team to lock in an elite-tier starting pitcher who will be a guaranteed presence for this coming season and beyond.

But will Cease be that guy?

Bringing Cease aboard?

That depends on a lot of things. Money will be an issue, even though Chicago is in a good position to be buyers this offseason. But a power-throwing righty would sure look good sandwiched between softer-throwing, more nuanced pitchers like Boyd and Imanaga. It would also be nice to carry an elite arm into postseason play when/if the Cubs make the playoffs again.

Cease is due for a better season this year after posting a 4.55 ERA in 2025. His velocity hasn’t dipped and his stuff remains solid. He also has the odd quirk of delivering better results in even-numbered years, which shouldn’t mean much of anything to the analytics-driven Cubs, anyway (Cease posted an average ERA of 4.53 ERA in 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 while notching an average ERA of 3.00 in 2020, 2022, and 2024).

But, most of all, adding Cease would mean adding another top arm to the front of the Cubs rotation. And, as we’ve all learned, a playoff-serious team can never have too much pitching.

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The Chicago Cubs finished their 2025 campaign with a tough loss after a gutsy and defiant postseason run that saw them twice stare down and get past elimination games in two separate series.

More News: Chicago Cubs pitcher, defense win big honors

Even with the offense not firing on all cylinders and the pitching worn to the point of being threadbare, the team showed championship-level gumption in fighting right through to the very end.

But it can’t be ignored just how roughed up the pitching staff looked as they limped into the last game of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers. By the end of that series, the Cubs were down to just two trustworthy starting pitchers in Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd– and Boyd was just one start removed from an awful appearance in Game One of the series. The bullpen, meanwhile, looked uneven, with maybe three relievers still within manager Craig Counsell’s circle of trust.

One wonders how different things would’ve looked in the playoffs had Chicago brought some real pitching depth into the postseason.

A focus on pitching depth

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The focus this offseason has to be on bringing that depth to the Cubs. It has to be a focus that is actually a serious one, involving proven high-end talent and not bargain bin acquisitions and rehabilitation projects.

With plenty of money to play with and right fielder Kyle Tucker likely leaving for greener (more generous) pastures via free agency this winter, the Cubs will have no excuse to shy away from the deep end of the free agent talent pool, especially when there will be several big ticket ace-level starting pitchers available.

Time will tell if the frugal Cubs ownership will green light any extravagant pitching purchases this offseason. History tells us that they won’t. But that’s not stopping the first offseason free agent rumor from circulating– one which ties the Cubs to former Cub draft pick Dylan Cease.

Chicago Cubs interested in Dylan Cease?

In a recent interview on 670 The Score’s Inside the Clubhouse, MLB Insider Bruce Levine talked up the buzz he’s hearing regarding Chicago’s early interest in the San Diego Padres ace.

“According to MLB insiders I know, people in the know in other organizations, they feel the Cubs will be there among the top suitors (for Dylan Cease), Levine said, as transcribed by Bleacher Nation’s Michael Cerami. “I would say it’s highly likely – like for sure – that he’s going to be looked at by the Cubs and be continued to be pursued.”

Before one begins to celebrate and save up for a Dylan Cease Cubs jersey, it should be noted how often “The Cubs are interested in” offseason rumors pop up for players they were never actually all that close to signing at all. So, take Levine’s report with the appropriate grain of salt. When the dust settles on a Cease deal, we may eventually find out that the Cubs, once again, were offering too little money over too few years to be serious competitors for his services.

Still, it’s hard not to dream of a rotation with Cease locked in at no. 1 or no. 2 for the next half-decade or so.

Cease would fit right in

He had a down year in 2025, posting a 4.55 ERA over 32 starts and turning in uneven performances throughout the regular season. However, the physical aspects of his game seem fine and he finished the season strong, posting a 2.76 ERA from September 1 through the playoffs (where he blanked the Cubs at Wrigley Field through 3.2 inning). He’ll only be thirty years of age on opening day and previous proof of success and durability will nab him a lucrative contract somewhere.

For the Cubs, he’s most definitely the kind of power, miss-bats pitcher the team desperately needs. He’d also provide plenty of protection in case there’s any regression in Boyd or Cade Horton or if a returning Justin Steele can’t find his groove.

Cubs fans shouldn’t hold their breath when it comes to the signing of Cease. It’s sure fun, though, to imagine what the team would look like if they did.

The post Chicago Cubs tied to big-ticket free agent, per MLB insider appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs had a lot of pleasant surprises this past season. From the bounce back of starter Matthew Boyd to the growth of Pete Crow-Armstrong to the breakthrough of closer Daniel Palencia, there was a lot to be happy about in 2025.

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One of the most pleasant surprises of the season, however, was the emergence of Cade Horton.

The 23-year-old came to the big leagues as a bit of an emergency measure, called up after Shota Imanaga went down in May with a hamstring issue. He wasn’t expected to stick around. The Cubs’ own coaching staff was cautious in reminding people that the team’s top pitching prospect was still very much a work in progress.

But Horton was remarkably solid through his early major league run. Then, he morphed from steady to spectacular.

Cade Horton wins publication’s Rookie of the Year honors

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Following the All-Star break, the rookie earned distinction as, arguably, the best pitcher in all of baseball with a 1.04 ERA over 12 starts. From July 9 to August 13, his 28.1 scoreless innings streak affirmed his excellence.

Overall, he went 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts).

To acknowledge his outstanding season, The Sporting News has named him 2025 Rookie of the Year.

A late season fractured rib took robbed Horton of the ability to pitch in the postseason, but his impact is widely acknowledged among teammates and coaches.

“It’s no surprise when he takes the ball for us and he’s able to do what he does,” Cubs catcher Reese McGuire told reporters. “His confidence, with how young he is and being in this league, getting the experience, he’s impressing a lot of people here.”

“There’s just an attack mentality with quality pitches,” manager Craig Counsell also said. “It’s fun to watch, man. It’s been a really, really impressive start to a Major League career. He’s doing a heck of a job.”

And while Horton was winning his awards, the team as a whole got one of its own.

Chicago Cubs win “Defensive Team of the Year” award

The SIS Fielding Bible awarded the Cubs their inaugural Defensive Team of the Year award.

Per The Fielding Bible:

“The Chicago Cubs are our inaugural Defensive Team of the Year winner. They ranked second in the majors and led all NL teams in Defensive Runs Saved.

The Cubs were the only team to have a positive Runs Saved total from eight of the nine defensive positions (all but right field).

They had the MLB leader in Runs Saved at second base (Nico Hoerner, who won the Fielding Bible Award) and the runner-up in center field (Pete Crow-Armstrong). They also had the No. 3 left fielder (Ian Happ), and the No. 3 pitcher (Matthew Boyd), as well as the No. 4 third baseman (Matt Shaw).”

As mentioned above, Nico Hoerner would take the second base fielding honors as an individual. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ, Matthew Boyd, and Matt Shaw would also place highly as runners up.

A focus on evergreen assets

This particular honor speaks highly of the way this team has been constructed by Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer.

An emphasis had been placed on evergreen team assets that could help the team win even when the offense and/or pitching aren’t necessarily firing on all cylinders. Defense, base running, fundamentals, chemistry, and work ethic have all been focal points when assembling this team.

In that regard, the efforts have definitely paid off.

On any given day, the Cubs could’ve started at least seven or right Gold Glove-caliber players on the field– something which helps the pitching staff immensely and eases the burden from the bats.

The focus will be the same in 2026, as Chicago may need to cook up a solid plan B should right fielder Kyle Tucker be lured away in free agency.

Overall, though, things look steady when it comes to defense, as well as Cade Horton’s mound future.

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The Chicago Cubs got really close to making it to the NLCS this year. The team showed grit, gumption, and the ability to battle back from adversity in their two-series playoff run. They also showed the strength of character to excel in the face of some real roster-related limitations.

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One would assume that getting so close to next-level postseason success, burdened by some easily identifiable roster holes, would make the objective obvious for 2026– fill those holes with the best available talent.

The Cubs certainly have the money to go out and do that via some veteran high-end free agent acquisitions. They also have the trade capital in their farm system to pull off a deal for an established impact player.

They won’t do either, though.

Chicago Cubs business as usual– Go cheap and hope for the best

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Limited by the owning Ricketts family’s frugal ways, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer will once again have to rely on “best available at the right price” talent rather than simply “best available” talent when it comes to acquisitions.

Or, better yet for the always budget-minded Cubs, he’ll be filling as many roster holes as possible with young, cheap talent from the minors while crossing his fingers and hoping for the best.

A perfect example of this will be at right field and designated hitter.

There should be very little doubt at this point that Kyle Tucker will soon be an ex-Cub. With Chicago balking on a contract as rich as $400 million over 9-10 years, they will look to replace him with existing roster players on the cheap.

Seiya Suzuki will likely be shifted back from DH to right field full time. The 21-year-old Moises Ballesteros will then be moved into the DH slot, with Cubs top prospect Owen Caissie finding some playing time at right field in a platoon with Suzuki or as insurance to Ballesteros at DH. Then, when Suzuki and Ian Happ are allowed to walk after they become free agents at the end of next season, Caissie will be given the full-time right field or left field gig as the front office hopes and wishes him to be ready.

Jed Hoyer and pleasant surprises

“That’s the lifeblood of baseball today. You have to have good, young players,” Hoyer told media at last week’s end-of-season press conference. “I think those are the guys that have real upside that can surprise you, and have great years — even beyond projections. So I consider Moises and Owen in that group. And I think their futures are really bright.”

Hoyer and company have regularly mentioned pleasant surprises and players outperforming expectations as crucial elements to the Cubs’ success. At this point, it probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that this president of a major market ball club would still be talking up what essentially amounts to luck as a key component to the team’s success.

Rookie Cade Horton shocked and awed the baseball world with his second-half dominance last season. Pete Crow-Armstrong did the same with his first half dominance. Third baseman Matt Shaw went from a flop to serviceable over the course of the season. First baseman Michael Busch took a huge step forward in his second full season as an everyday player. Reliever Daniel Palencia was an eye-opening revelation right up until his late season fizzle. Ballesteros, meanwhile, pretty much proved that he could handle big league pitching, albeit in a pretty small sample size of at bats.

What’s in store for 2026

This upcoming season, they’ll be counting on Caissie being major league ready and, possibly, on top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins being the Cade Horton of 2026. They’ll also be looking for some of the Triple-A arms to help round out a bullpen that will have to be almost completely restocked after they let at least 5 or 6 relievers drift away into free agency.

And, while ‘going with youth’ is not necessarily a bad thing, the real reason behind a conservative offseason will center more around budget considerations than fielding the best possible team with the resources available to them. In 2026, after getting so close to an NLCS berth in 2025, it’s very possible that half the Cubs’ 26-man roster will be at-or-near the league-minimum salary.

That’s a huge win for Cubs ownership, regardless of whether the team actually wins or not.

It also means that, once again, there were will be little margin for error when it comes to the on-field product and that success will be predicated on players outperforming expectations.

It would be nice, though, to occasionally make the team guaranteed-better by adding a great player who is a sure thing to be a great player. Well, they had that with Tucker, but…

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The Chicago Cubs finished the 2025 season with a defiant run in the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers, battling back from a 0-2 deficit in the best-of-five series before eventually falling in Game Five.

More News: Chicago Cubs’ first order of business: Get these young players extended

A big part of the team’s lack of playoff staying power had to do with their pitching.

By the latter part of the postseason, Cubs’ pitching was hobbled and limping into each subsequent game. By the end of the division series, Chicago was down to two trustworthy starting pitchers and maybe three relievers who could be depended upon in high-leverage situations.

A quick fix to this problem could lie just about four hours to the northeast of Chicago in Detroit.

The Detroit Tigers are in a tough position when it comes to their ace starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, who becomes a free agent at the end of next season and is predicted to land a history-making lucrative contract on the open market.

Tarik Skubal is a goner in Detroit

More News: Chicago Cubs: Harsh realities await 2026 pitching product

The lefty will definitely be worth his monstrous payday as, perhaps, the best pitcher in all of baseball with a proven record of elite-level success. Skubal’s 3.08 career ERA is outstanding, but his last three seasons of sub-3.00 ERA excellence tell the tale of someone extremely special. This past season, by the way, just happened to be a career year with a 2.21 ERA over 31 starts and 195.1 innings.

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the Tigers looking to trade their ace away for a haul of talent, in anticipation of his contract being too rich for them. One of the teams mentioned in conjunction with such a major trade is Chicago.

Chicago Cubs-Detroit Tigers trade proposals and fantasies

Really, what Cubs fan would NOT want to see Skubal in the blue pinstripes atop the rotation?

One proposed trade has the Cubs sending Shota Imanaga (and his complex calculus contract) to the Tigers, along with Moises Ballesteros and/or Owen Caissie and their first round draft pick. Another proposal has Cade Horton being packaged and sent to Detroit in a Skubal deal.

This talk is pure fantasy, though.

The haul required to entice the Tigers would be for just one year of the lefty ace. It’s a pretty sure thing that the Cubs would lose Skubal to free agency just as the Tigers would.

Still, the Cubs’ chances of postseason glory would look really good with a true ace at the top of the rotation.

The Cubs’ need for high-end pitching

Some of Chicago’s lack of pitching depth this past season was due to circumstance beyond the team’s control. This will be used as justification for not doing all that much this offseason.

Ace Justin Steele suffered a season-ending elbow injury in April, removing him from the mix entirely. Rookie sensation Horton, meanwhile, suffered a season-ending rib fracture late in the regular season after an unbelievable run of excellence throughout the second half of 2025.

It might be tempting to say that the Cubs’ postseason outlook would’ve been a lot different had Steele and Horton been pitching come October. That, however, would be letting the Cubs’ front office and ownership off the hook. They had plenty of opportunities throughout the year to add pitching depth to a staff that clearly needed reinforcement.

But 2026 offers a chance at a redo and the opportunity to do what they didn’t do in 2025.

With only one contract on the books after 2026 and enough of a budget to spend freely this winter, the Cubs could easily flex their major market muscles and sign some free agent pitching impact players. History tells us, though, that they probably won’t.

The other way to get that impact player is via trade.

The Cubs shied away from pulling the trigger on Jesus Luzardo last offseason. It would’ve been a more modest deal for two years of a high-tier starter than what the Tigers would demand for one year of Skubal. So, it’s just not likely that the Cubs will even remotely entertain the idea of a trade with Detroit.

Still, one can dream.

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The Chicago Cubs finished the 2025 season with a hefty dose of disappointment, but also a lot of positivity around which they could build hope for better tomorrows.

More News: Chicago Cubs president appears to be doubling down on failed 2025 strategy

Making it to Game Five of the NLDS was beyond most expectations and, with a relatively young team being fielded, it gives one hope that there are better and brighter days ahead.

That’s why Cubs president of baseball operations needs to pressure the Ricketts family ownership to get some important contract extensions done right now.

“My hope and expectation is that we’ll have extension talks with a number of players this offseason,” Hoyer told reporters in his end-of-season press conference last week. “My hope and expectation is that you never find out about it. But, yes, we have a number of players we’d like to keep long-term and we’ll have those conversations.”

The move to extend some young talent is logical, both in the fiscal sense as well as in a baseball sense. With Kyle Tucker likely to be lost via free agency this winter and players like Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, and Carson Kelly set to hit the free agent market after next season, it’ll be important to secure a young, solid base as the foundation for a winning future. Moves like that would also create some security ahead of a likely 2027 lockout and restructuring of the collective bargaining agreement between owners and players.

But who should the Cubs extend and for how much?

Nico Hoerner should be first on the list

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Second baseman Nico Hoerner, who will also be eligible for free agency at the end of next season, needs to be first on that list.

The 28-year-old had a career year in 2025 with a .297 batting average and Gold Glove play at second, but has been consistent through his major league run. It could be said that he willed his way into becoming the Cubs MVP throughout the second half of the season, but especially during the heat of the pennant race and in the postseason, where he batted .419 through the two series. He is steady, consistent, and has proven himself to be a spark plug for an offense that desperately needs sparks of ignition. He already easily ranks as the best Cubs’ second baseman since Ryne Sandberg.

Hoerner had already signed a 3-year, $35 million extension before the 2023 season, covering 2024 to 2026. His next deal, as theorized by Matthew Trueblood of North Side Baseball could be a 5-year, $105 million deal with the possibility of it becoming a 6-year, $120 million deal, keeping him in Chicago until his age-34 year.

PCA and Busch are “must-extend” assets

Pete Crow-Armstrong is a no-brainer for a Cubs extension as well.

Despite the 23-year-old’s late season fizzle, he showed what he had the potential to do on multiple fronts of the game. Even when not hitting, PCA is a linchpin to the Cubs’ outfield defense and a real game-changer with his speed. Plus, to be business-practical, the guy is a charismatic field presence that helps sell tickets and move merch. The Cubs had already tried to get him to bite on an extension reportedly worth $75 million for an undisclosed number of years, but it was turned down. Their next offer needs to be more aggressively generous to keep PCA beyond the 2030 season.

Thoughts are that such an extension could fall in the range of $135 million to $190 million over 9 or10 years, which would still be a bargain relative to his overall worth.

Another young player in need of an extension right now is first baseman Michael Busch.

The 27-year-old sophomore proved himself to be one of the elite-tier first baseman in the sport with a monster season in just his second full year at the position. He finished 2025 with 34 home runs and 90 RBIs while placing in the MLB top three among first baseman in slugging percentage (.523), home runs, OPS (.863), and triples (5)– all while playing Gold Glove-level defense.

Busch is a keeper and should be treated as one. Right now he’s an extreme bargain at just about $750K per season and he won’t be eligible for free agency until 2030. Cutting a deal now to get past arbitration and free agency would be wise. Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue estimates that such an extension could result in a 5-year, $70 million deal that would become a 6-year, $25 million deal with an option tacked on at the end.

Also in consideration…

There are other young Cubs who could be the subject of extension talk.

Pitcher Cade Horton, for example, showcased some wildly elite-level stuff, especially over the second half of the season. His small body of work and injury history, though, make him an extreme risk when it comes to extension talk.

Daniel Palencia was a revelation last season as the Cubs closer, until his somewhat-collapse at the very end. There could be some chatter about an extension, but the Cubs generally don’t go all-in when it comes to relievers. In this case, they would be right to shy away from one with Palencia.

Third baseman Matt Shaw proved that he belonged in the major leagues after a shaky start to his rookie year. His defense turned out to be much better than anticipated and his hitting started to come around as he put more at bats under his belt. He’s still not a sure-thing starter, though, and it would be an odd business move for the team to extend the 23-year-old work in progress.

All in all, securing the contracts of Hoerner, Crow-Armstrong, and Busch would help establish a young base for a championship run, alongside Horton, Palencia, Shaw and incoming young talent such as Moises Ballesteros, Owen Caissie, and Jaxon Wiggins.

If the Cubs wait on doing this, things could get quite a bit more expensive for them and, possibly, cost them these players as well.

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The Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season can’t really be seen as a failure. It was a bit disappointing, however, when the team started off so hot and than cooled down considerably in the second half of the season. It was especially disappointing to see how the team’s pitching limped into the postseason.

More News: Chicago Cubs president non-committal on 2026 budget-related issues

By the end of the NLDS, the Cubs were down to two somewhat reliable starters and maybe three relievers in manager Craig Counsell’s circle of trust. One shudders to think of the blood bath that would’ve ensued had the Cubs advanced to meet the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.

Although a flat-lining offense was a big issue throughout the second half of the season and into the postseason, the lack of pitching depth will resonate in many minds as the biggest issue facing a 2026 team that is now expected to make the playoffs once again.

The Chicago Cubs didn’t do enough at the trade deadline

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Fingers have been pointed at Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer for not being aggressive enough in pursuit of arms at the trade deadline.

For a team said to be “all-in” when it came to a deep playoff run and expected to be mega-aggressive at the deadline to acquire the talent it needed, the Cubs were disappointingly conservative. In the area of pitching, Hoyer only brought in swing man Michael Soroka (who went to the IL just two innings into his Cubs debut) and middle relievers Andrew Kittredge and Taylor Rogers.

The late season acquisitions weren’t enough to have much of an impact. Ultimately, the Cubs’ inability to fortify themselves with high-end pitching led to a staff that seemed to be held together by nothing other than grit and wishful thinking.

Thing would’ve been significantly worse had Cade Horton not emerged as a shockingly dominant force after the All-Star break. It’s possible that the Cubs may not have even made the playoffs at all if the rookie hadn’t willed himself into becoming the rotation ace before suffering a season-ending rib fracture late in the regular season.

Hoyer has blamed his modest deadline haul on the exorbitant asking price for pitching from teams. Stories have surfaced about potential trade partners asking for Cade Horton or Matt Shaw in exchange for controllable high-end pitchers.

Enough wasn’t done before the season, either

Some will also point out, though, that the rush to pick up pitching in late July would not have been an issue if Hoyer and the front office had acquired depth in that area before the season.

At some point, the Cubs were looking for top shelf arms during the offseason, with buzz popping up about talks with various teams. A deal with the Florida Marlins for lefty Jesus Luzardo was nixed by the Cubs over issues related to the pitcher’s physicals.

So, the Cubs went into the season, rolling the dice on free agent pickup Matthew Boyd as a solid rotation piece and Ryan Pressly as a bounce-back closer.

Boyd panned out, Pressly didn’t. But then Justin Steele suffered a season-ending elbow injury in April. Javier Assad was unable to pitch until later in the season. Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga had IL stints.

Surprising seasons from Boyd, Horton, and a pieced-together bullpen got the Cubs what they needed to make the postseason. It wasn’t enough, however, to get them into the elite playoff tier, where pitching really, really matters.

Jed Hoyer speaks, appears to double down

Hoyer acknowledged this in his recent season wrap-up press conference.

“Obviously, at the end, with some injuries and the nature of the series we played, I think there was probably some depth that we could have used on the pitching staff,” Hoyer told media. “That’s an area that we’ll always continue to try to focus on.”

The off-putting part of Hoyer’s address to the media was that he didn’t seem to be all too committed on doing anything different in 2026.

While there needs to be a focus on acquiring dominant pitching talent that makes for missed balls, Hoyer still seems insistent on his long-held strategy of manning the staff with lower-profile pitchers who need a good defense behind them to get outs.

“When the ball is not in play is better than when it’s in play, by definition,” Hoyer said. “You’re always looking for stuff and strikeouts. We’ll continue to push that. But I think the combination of our pitching infrastructure and a combination of our defense, I think we can get the most out of a lot of pitchers because I do feel like we make plays and I think that that shows up almost every night.”

All of that is true to an extent. It’s also true that a staff pitching like that has a very small margin for error and is very vulnerable to misfortune. The 2025 Cubs were very fortunate to get as far as they did with so many pitching injuries and letdowns. You can’t count on being fortunate in 2026.

Hoyer and company need to be aggressive this offseason in finding elite-level pitching. They need depth so that the coaching staff doesn’t have to be constantly juggling and pulling off minor magical feats to get through games.

If not, the Cubs could find themselves back to the middle of the pack, missing out on the postseason after a season that could’ve (and should’ve) been even more successful.

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The Chicago Cubs have a pitching problem– and it’s a pretty considerable one.

More News: Chicago Cubs president non-committal on 2026 budget-related issues

Looking back at the end of their 2025 playoff run, it was almost a face-saving thing that they got eliminated in Game Five of the NLDS by the Milwaukee Brewers. There would’ve been a blood bath in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers if the Cubs’ pitching staff, such as it was at the end of the divisional series, had rolled up against Ohtani and company.

By the end of the five-game series against the Brewers, the Cubs had decided to shy away from using starter Shota Imanaga and were down to a two-man rotation of Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd (who, himself, was one start removed from a terrible postseason outing).

Chicago Cubs pitching limped to the 2025 finish line

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They could’ve used Colin Rea as a rotation piece and probably would’ve given Imanaga another start, just out of necessity. There were also rumblings over rookie phenom Cade Horton coming back from a fractured rib for the NLCS, but that had to be considered the longest of long shots.

There were some issues in the bullpen, also, as high-leverage guy Daniel Palencia had looked relatively pedestrian while Andrew Kittredge and Michael Soroka got touched up a bit.

So, yeah, things would’ve gotten pretty ugly as the Cubs’ pitching came limping into the NLCS.

However, as much as fans would like to think otherwise, it’s not likely that the Cubs are going to do a whole lot this offseason to make themselves significantly deeper and better in the pitching department.

Don’t expect an ace free agent acquisition

First, remove the notion that Chicago is digging deep into their pockets to pull a stud starting pitcher from the top of the free agency pool. The Cubs aren’t spending monster money on Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, or even Zac Gallen. There’s also little possibility of a monster trade to bring someone like Sandy Alcantara aboard.

Most likely, ownership and the front office will count on a returning Justin Steele (who could be back from his elbow surgery by opening day or late-spring) as their top 2026 starting rotation addition and the picking up of Imanaga’s option as their top financial maneuver. In doing so, they’ll also be crossing their fingers that Boyd doesn’t regress, that Horton stays healthy and dominant, and that Imanaga finds his form again.

The conservative-minded Cubs will be content with a front five of Steele, Boyd, Imanaga, Horton, and Taillon with Colin Rea, Ben Brown, and Javier Assad as the fall-backs. On the surface, that IS a pretty solid rotation, but there’s also a lot of history of injury and inconsistency in that group as well.

Bullpen business as usual

In the bullpen, there will be massive turnover as five of the eight relievers on the NLDS roster are eligible for free agency and one (Kittredge) has a big $9 million team option over his head. Given the team’s history on such matters, it appears unlikely that bullpen standouts Brad Keller, Drew Pomeranz, and Caleb Thielbar will be brought back on a significantly beefed-up contract.

This means that the Cubs could very well see Palencia and Brown as the only holdover bullpen pieces from the end of 2025. The team will count greatly on the healthy return of Eli Morgan and the rebound of guys like Porter Hodge and Jordan Wicks. They’ll also look to once again piece together a solid bullpen with reclamation projects and strategic bargain bin one-year free agent pickups.

There could be a plethora of late-inning, closer-capable arms available this offseason— like Edwin Diaz, Robert Suarez, Ryan Helsley, Devin Williams, and Kyle Finnegan– but the Cubs will likely once again err on the side of frugality and roll the dice on Palencia, hoping that he doesn’t experience significant regression from his first year as a closer at the major league level.

If there are any deals or free agent pickups this offseason, expect them to be relatively minor. Barring unexpected injury, they’ll be fine with their starting rotation and insistent on their ability to build a competent bullpen on the cheap.

Unfortunately, this mindset could see the Cubs suffering through the same kind of postseason dilemmas they saw this season.

The post Chicago Cubs: Harsh realities await 2026 pitching product appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs may have evened up the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t still walking a pitching tightrope with zero margin for error.

Heading into the series-deciding Game Five at American Family Field in Milwaukee, the Cubs are facing the same pitching dilemma they’ve faced throughout the postseason– How to get the best from their limited starting pitching options.

A week before starting the Wild Card Series with the San Diego Padres, rookie phenom Cade Horton went down with a fractured rib. The 24-year-old had dazzled over the second half of the season, going 8-1 and posting a mind-boggling 1.03 ERA since the All-Star break.

Losing their most effective starter just days before the playoffs began had the potential to be a team death blow. To the Cubs’ credit, though, they’ve pushed through and have managed to get by without Horton’s dominant presence.

Can Cade Horton pitch in the playoffs?

Still, there’s hope that maybe, possibly the Rookie of the Year candidate could still see some action this postseason.

Technically, Horton was eligible to be activated off the IL on Friday, but few thought that would actually happen. Instead, the former Cubs no. 1 draft pick pitched his second bullpen session, going two simulated innings.

Manager Craig Counsell would immediately shut down the fringe whispers about Horton possibly coming back for Saturday’s game in Milwaukee.

“No,” Counsell told media, flat and cold, when asked about the possibility.

But what if the Cubs beat the Brewers and move on to the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Horton wants to be part of the Chicago Cubs postseason

Horton, himself, is working under the assumption that a postseason return is still in the cards.

This past Tuesday, he pitched his first real bullpen session and felt good enough to double down on his feeling that 2025 isn’t over for him.

“At this moment, I’m pain-free,” Horton told reporters before the workout. “Really not trying to push it. But for right now, I’m feeling good.”

“Absolutely, I think that’s the plan,” Horton replied, when asked about pitching this postseason. “That’s kind of why we’re getting on the mound today and progressing as normal.

“I plan to just throw a normal bullpen. Obviously, I’m not going to be in there throwing upper 90s, but, yeah, just normal bullpen day.”

The road back

Horton had been keeping his stamina up during his down time by throwing from his knees, being careful to not put too much stress on his ribs. From there, he went on to play light catch, always working with the idea that he’d be back.

“Everything’s been smooth,” Horton affirmed. “So just continuing to build off that.”

He’s also been chomping at the bit to be a part of this compelling playoff run.

“It sucks, but [I’m] just trying to be the best teammate I can,” Horton said. “It’s been fun watching the guys. We still got some baseball to play. Just one day at a time and being the best teammate I can be.”

Realistically, it’s not very likely that he’d be ready for Monday’s NLCS if the Cubs get by the Brewers on Saturday. There’s always the World Series after that, though.

But, first, the Cubs actually have to beat the Brewers in Milwaukee– and that’s a decidedly tall order.

From there, everyone can start talking Cade Horton once again.

The post Chicago Cubs: Cade Horton wants in, Counsell offers clarity on playoff comeback appeared first on ChiCitySports.

As the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers gear up for their NLDS matchup, both organizations have revealed that they will be without one key starting pitcher for the series. On Chicago’s side, Cade Horton won’t be a factor, and on Milwaukee’s side, Brandon Woodruff will remain sidelined.

Both pitchers were long shots to be available for this series, but that has now been confirmed well ahead of when official rosters are released. For Horton, he is recovering from rib fractures while Woodruff a lat strain.

Who will step up for the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers in Cade Horton and Brandon Woodruff’s absences?

For Game 1, the Cubs will be handing the ball to Matthew Boyd on three days rest. If Cubs manager Craig Counsell follows the same pattern as the Wild Card series, Shota Imanga would then be in line to throw bulk innings on Monday, on four days rest, and Jameson Taillon Wednesday on five days of rest. This would then lineup Boyd again for a potential game four, on as many days rest, and Imanaga on Saturday the 10th, if necessary, on four days rest.

In Chicago’s case, on paper they can navigate this series starting pitching-wise, should it go the distance of five games. However, they will miss Horton’s absence as he had been lights out from the All-Star break on. Should any of the three starters who got the ball in the Wild Card seires falter in the NLDS, it will take a bulk innings reliever like Colin Rea, Aaron Civale, or Michael Soroka to step up and save an already taxed bullpen.

On Milwaukee’s side, Woodruff was slated to start Game 2, as Freddy Peralta is getting the ball in Game 1. Now, Brewers manager Pat Murphy revealed that either Quinn Priester or Jose Quintana will get the ball in Game 2. Woodruff has plenty of postseason experience and clutch performances on his resume, so the Brewers are going to be relying on either a breakout performer in Priester, or a savvy veteran in Quintana, to fill his shoes.

Rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski is expected to be a bullpen option for the Brewers this series. He had a rough finish to the year, so if Milwaukee calls his name, there will be a lot of eyes on how he performs.

The post The Cubs and Brewers are each down 1 key starter for NLDS appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs finally clinched home field advantage for the upcoming three-game Wild Card Series on Saturday with a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

It wasn’t the divisional title they would’ve liked earlier on in the season, but all things considered, it was the best case scenario for what they could reasonably hope for right now.

But the celebrations after Saturday’s win were nowhere near as joyous as those on September 17, when they clinched a guaranteed playoff berth. Part of the reason for that was the simple fact that there will be a quick turnaround to Tuesday’s Wild Card Series opener against the San Diego Padres. The other reason may be related to the horrible news they got earlier in the day.

Before the game, the team announced that pitcher Cade Horton had been placed on the 15-day IL with a right rib fracture.

A good news/bad news day for the Chicago Cubs

The 24-year-old, who had become the Cubs’ most effective starting pitcher over the last half of the season, was pulled from his last start on Tuesday after just three innings and 29 pitches due to back stiffness. At the time, the quick exit was talked up as a purely cautionary measure and that the Rookie of the Year candidate would be “a go” to pitch in the Wild Card series, according to Cubs manager Craig Counsell.

Counsell would reveal on Saturday, however, that the Cubs knew of the rib fracture and had wanted to see if Horton could pitch through the injury, as the young star had hoped to do.

By late Saturday morning, though, it became apparent that the righty could not pitch through the pain and discomfort. So, the call was made to put him on the IL, retroactive to Thursday.

Cade Horton goes on the IL after all

“It’s a blow. There’s no question about it,” Counsell told media after the Cubs’ win over the Cardinals. “Losing players to injury at this time of year — it’s not fun. Everybody knows that. And it hurts.”

“It means that other guys are going to get an opportunity,” Counsell continued. “To have a chance to impact the game, have success and control what happens.”

The impact of losing Horton, who had notched an 8-1 record with a 1.03 ERA since the All-Star break, will be felt. Technically, he’ll be eligible to return on October 10, a day before game 5 of The NL Division Series, if necessary. Realistically, though, a return this year is highly doubtful.

In Horton’s place

In his place, the Cubs will have to go with Jameson Taillon or Colin Rea in Horton’s place, alongside lefties Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga. The veterans Taillon and Rea have been outstanding in recent performances, with Taillon notching a 1.59 ERA in 5 starts since a return from the IL while Rea has posted a 2.63 ERA in his five September starts. Taillon got the win on Saturday, moved up a day on the pitching schedule, to accommodate a possible start in game two or three of the Wild Card Series.

On the bright side, the Cubs HAVE looked spectacular these last couple games, very similar to the powerhouse offensive days of earlier on the season. And, of course, at least the team is in the playoffs.

But that’s, apparently, where the good news may end. The anticipated struggle to achieve an extended postseason run just got infinitely more difficult with the loss of Cade Horton.

The post Chicago Cubs clinch and lose ace in sweet and sour day appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs are playoff-bound no matter what. Where they’ll play in the opening series of the playoffs, however, is still up in the air. As of right now, their magic number for clinching the top Wild Card seed– and home field advantage throughout the three-game Wild Card series– remains at 2.

With three games left in the regular season, things haven’t entirely been settled when it comes to postseason play.

One of the biggest question marks now centers around the team’s starting pitching and who, exactly, will be taking the mound in the Wild Card series versus the San Diego Padres and in which order they will go.

Cade Horton’s back issues

Rookie of the Year candidate Cade Horton seemed to have assumed the position of favorite to start game one, until reported back stiffness forced him to be removed from his last start on Tuesday, just three innings and 29 pitches into his outing.

At the time, Cubs manager Craig Counsell explained away the back issue as a byproduct of a lingering illness and a recurrent cough that Horton had developed. Counsell (as well as Horton, himself) addressed the quick hook on Tuesday as purely a precautionary measure.

A subsequent MRI, however, made the situation a bit murkier as “areas of concern” were identified, even as Counsell was insisting that Horton would be ready to pitch in the playoffs, which kick off this coming Tuesday.

Chicago Cubs comment on Horton’s readiness

“Cade is on track still,” Counsell told media prior to Thursday’s loss to the New York Mets. “There’s some areas of concern in the ribs in the MRI. We’re going to continue to get more information on it and see where that leads us [and] use time on our side.

“But right now, Cade is a go.”

With three games and an off day left before the Wild Card series, Counsell and the Cubs are feeling out the situation and exploring their options, while seeing just how hard and long Horton can go.

“This is what we want to get more information about,” Counsell said. “That’s why we’re trying to make sure we know exactly what we’re treating, and I think as the days go on, rule stuff in and rule stuff out. And Cade progressing, we’ll kind of know how he’s feeling, and then we’ll be able to make a good decision.”

Reading between the lines

That last statement doesn’t exactly instill confidence that the Cubs know, exactly, what they’re dealing with. It also blows out of the water the idea that the 24-year-old will absolutely, positively be ready to pitch during the first round of postseason play.

Remember, this is also the same Cubs team that hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with information regarding injuries to players. Last year, it was never revealed that Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner were playing through injury for most, if not all, of the season. This season, Counsell and company allowed right fielder Kyle Tucker to play through a hairline fracture in his hand, with the injury only being acknowledged by Counsell about two months later, after a report on the injury was published by ESPN.

So, who really knows what’s the true nature of Horton’s injury right now? All we do know is that the Cubs need the arm that’s become top pitcher in the rotation, marking an incredible 8-1 record with a 1.03 ERA since the All-Star break.

For what it’s worth, Horton was seen throwing in the outfield prior to Friday’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals at Wrigley Field.

The post Chicago Cubs issue murky update on Cade Horton injury appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs’ magic number to clinch home field advantage for the Wild Card series remains at four. The stalled path to clinching is mostly due to the Cubs, themselves, as they’ve now lost a season-high five in a row with Tuesday’s frustrating 9-7 loss to the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.

To make matters worse for the North Siders, a wave of “oh no” washed over everyone when Rookie of the Year favorite and possible playoff game one starter Cade Horton was pulled from the game after three innings and just 29 pitches.

The initial report was that the 24-year-old was experiencing stiffness in his back and that his removal was a cautionary measure. It was later revealed that Horton’s back tightness was most likely caused by a lingering illness that had been pestering him the last several days, along with others on the team.

Counsell, Horton speak on abbreviated outing

“We’ve had a couple guys sick,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after Tuesday’s game. “The illness has caused (Horton) to be coughing a lot. That may be it. That’s what we feel like it probably is. We wanted to be extra careful during the start tonight, so we stopped it.

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. The next couple days will be important. He wanted to keep going tonight, and we said no.”

At the very least, a cough/illness-related back issue is much better news than a purely physical (muscle/bone/tendon) issue. The Cubs’ 2020 no. 1 draft pick was also pitching pretty well at the time of his removal. After giving up a solo home run on the second pitch of the game to Francisco Lindor and a follow up single to Juan Soto, he shut the Mets down the rest of the way.

“I felt really good, pitching-wise,” Horton told media. “I was hitting my spots and attacking guys. It was just in between innings that I started to get a little stiff. The breathing started to play a factor. Everything started to tighten up…In between innings, my breath started to bother me. I just wanted to get on top of it early while we have time, rather than keep going and potentially harm the next start.”

Cade Horton and the playoffs

In this particular case, Horton’s next start will be in the opening series of the playoffs, which The Cubs are still hoping to host at Wrigley Field.

When asked whether he’ll be ready for that important playoff outing, Horton didn’t hesitate with his response.

“For sure,” he said. “That’s why we made the move we did tonight…It sucks. Hate it, but it’s the right move.”

Chicago Cubs bullpen collapse

What also “sucks” is the way the Cubs crumbled shortly after Horton’s early exit, carrying a 6-1 lead into the top of the fifth before everything fell to pieces following a rare Dansby Swanson error at shortstop.

The other bad news behind the abbreviated Horton outing was the general unsteadiness of a bullpen that has frequently been a surprising saving grace of the team’s late season run.

Michael Soroka gave up three hits and walked one in 1.2 innings behind Horton. Taylor Rogers gave up two earned runs on two hits in one inning of relief. The usually superb Caleb Thielbar turned in a poor outing, also allowing two earned runs and two hits in one inning of relief.

All in all, the bullpen was asked to give six innings of relief on Tuesday and the Cubs had to use six pitchers to do so. None, other than Andrew Kittredge, left without being touched up a bit.

Horton, though, remains the primary concern for the team. Everyone will surely be monitoring his progress the following week.

In the big picture, the Cubs as a whole need to figure out a way to stop this late-season skid.

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The Chicago Cubs have clinched their first playoff berth since the abbreviated 2020 season. They’re also close to clinching top Wild Card seed status, which will grant them home field advantage throughout the three-game Wild Card series.

Now, with just a handful of games left in the regular season, the attention has to shift to fielding the best possible team in the postseason.

There are concerns, though.

Right fielder Kyle Tucker’s lingering calf injury is a very big deal and puts into question the strength of the Cubs’ outfield. Similarly, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s extended slump brings another huge question mark to the postseason.

There are a few other concerns, too. Like, for instance, the playoff viability of the bullpen and the overall strength of the bench.

The Chicago Cubs’ playoff starting rotation

The starting pitching, meanwhile, has its own questions marks, with the order of the three-man Wild Card rotation being the biggest topic for debate right now.

Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, and Shota Imanaga seem to be the designated front three for the series (although Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea are making strong cases for themselves with recent performances).

A few weeks ago, Boyd as the no. 1 would’ve been a foregone conclusion. That’s definitely not the case anymore as he’s struggled of late, posting a 5.34 ERA over his last 10 starts. Even Imanaga has faltered a bit lately, delivering a 4.76 ERA in his last 3 starts.

That leaves the Rookie of the Year-favorite Horton as the statistically best option for game one of the Wild Card series, although conventional baseball wisdom might steer one away from using a 24-year-old rookie in such a high-pressure postseason game.

Cade Horton favored for game one?

However, judging by the announced probable Cubs starters over the weekend and the overall layout of the likely pitching schedule, manager Craig Counsell may actually be leaning towards Horton for the big playoff assignment.

This Friday, Shota Imanaga is scheduled to start. On Saturday and Sunday, Javier Assad and Jameson Taillon, respectively, will get the starts.

That will leave Horton to likely take the mound on Tuesday against the Mets in Wrigley Field for the next-to-last series of the regular season. That will also give him a full week to rest before game one of the Wild Card series.

Boyd and Imanaga will also likely have one more start apiece over the final week of the season, but they will be afforded less rest time leading into the postseason than Horton.

At this point, though, the playoff rotation order is pure conjecture, maybe even to Counsell, himself.

No seniority, no favoritism

“We’re at a point where we’ve created a game plan to be able to be flexible,” Counsell told media before Thursday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

Counsell also doesn’t seem at all concerned over seniority or player pride when it comes to staffing a postseason run.

“Look, I think when you get to the playoffs, when you get to this time of year, guys understand,” Counsell said. “And you work really hard to get to these spots, and the game changes. Not tonight, necessarily. But when you get to October, the game changes.

“And the game changes, because [in Game 1 of a Wild Card Series], we’re two games from elimination. It changes your decisions. It just does.”

Time will tell who takes the mound first in which game. One thing is for certain, though, everyone will have a short leash.

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The Chicago Cubs have an elite-level asset in Cade Horton and the young pitcher has not only worked his way to betting-favorite status in the Rookie of the Year race, but is also busting out historical feats along the way.

Over his last 11 starts, the 24-year-old is 8-1, with just 6 earned runs allowed– an achievement that has him rubbing elbows with the elite in MLB history.

Per OptaSTATS:

“In the modern era, the only other MLB pitcher to have 8+ wins & 6 or fewer runs allowed over an 11-start span in a single season was Bob Gibson [of the St. Louis Cardinals] in 1968.”

Rookie of the Year?

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.”

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The Chicago Cubs are, at this late stage of the season, being given a 100% likelihood of making the playoffs. They are also 3.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres when it comes to taking the Wild Card top seed, which would give them home field advantage through the three-game Wild Card series.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the front office isn’t eyeing next season and beyond.

Given the quality of this Cubs team and the holes that it needs to address, free agency will loom large in their future.

Free agency looms large in Chicago Cubs’ future

On the minus side, it’s looking more and more likely that four-time All-Star Kyle Tucker might be a one season-and-done asset after coming from the Houston Astros in a 3-for-1 trade this past offseason. With heavy-spending teams such as the Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox, among others, possibly in on the bidding, it seems that the frugal Cubs ownership may be outbid for the right fielder’s services.

On the plus side, though, there’s an opportunity for the under-budget Cubs to add some truly impactful free agent assets for the 2026 campaign.

Jackson Roberts of SI.com recently wrote a piece spotlighting the top 2026 free agents and where he believes they may be headed. He tied two quality starters to the Cubs (while also predicting that Tucker will sign with the Dodgers).

Two pitchers tied to the Cubs

The first name Roberts mentioned is former Cubs prospect and current San Diego Padre Dylan Cease.

Per Roberts:

“Don’t sleep on Cease’s potential to shift the power dynamics of the league next season. He may not have an impressive ERA this season (4.59 after Saturday’s start), but he’s the only pitcher in all of baseball to tally at least 200 strikeouts in each of the last five seasons.

It doesn’t seem likely that the Padres’ financial situation will allow them to retain the 29-year-old righty, but there’s a National League rival with money to spend who could really use a right-handed starter.”

Cease was curiously dangled over the trade market near this year’s trade deadline, but the trigger on a deal was never pulled. The 7-year veteran was also rumored to be on the trade market in the offseason.

Cease, who has a 3.88 ERA in 7 big league season, has spent a career going up and down when it comes to performance, alternating from elite-level to mid-tier performance in alternating years. This season has been one of the mid-tier years.

Also mentioned in connection with the Cubs was Jack Flaherty of the Detroit Tigers, who has a $20 million player option for the coming season and a 3.80 ERA over 9 seasons to certify his worth. The thought is that the 29-year-old may opt out of his contract and test the free agent market in search of a multi-year contract.

If he does that, Roberts feels that the Cubs could swoop in to sign him up:

“Flaherty hasn’t had his best season, posting a 4.69 ERA through 29 starts. The strikeouts are still there, though, and with only $20 million on the table if he accepts his player option, it feels more likely that he’ll bank on the market valuing him enough to squeeze out a multi-year deal.”

Logical or not?

The two right-handers, Cease and Flaherty, would be welcomed assets to any team, really.

The question with the Cubs is whether they’ll spend the money and commit to the contract years when they currently have Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton, Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, and Javier Assad on staff as starters, with Justin Steele coming back from elbow surgery at some point next season.

On the other hand, though, Boyd, Taillon, and Rea are due to be free agents after the 2026 season and there’s no guarantee on Steele being the same after his injury. Adding at least one more quality starter to the rotation wouldn’t be unwise.

For now, 2026 is speculation as this 2025 team attempts to make a deep playoff run.

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The Chicago Cubs have had to endure a lot of bad news over the last week or so.

Closer Daniel Palencia was recently placed on the 15-day IL with a shoulder strain after a disastrous outing in Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals. There are doubts over whether he’ll be able to return this season at all.

Meanwhile, Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong remain hobbled by injury, presiding over an offense that has once again flat-lined.

But, among the few good-news Cubs morsels out there, pitcher Cade Horton is, arguably, the most feel-good.

The rise of Cade Horton

The 24-year-old rookie has logged a 2.78 ERA and a 9-4 record since his May call-up, but has been especially dominant over the last two months or so. The Cubs’ 2022 first-round draft pick has been lights out since his first start in July, working his way to a 1.23 ERA in his 11 starts since then and earning regard as the Cubs’ ace over the second half of the season.

His excellence on the mound has opened eyes and is now, rightfully, earning him Rookie of the Year recognition, even among a stacked 2025 rookie class.

Rookie of the Year?

In a recent piece for The Athletic, MLB analyst and former major league executive, Jim Bowden, places Horton in the top 3 when it comes to Rookie of the Year honors.

Per Bowden:

“Horton, 24, began the season in Triple A and made his major-league debut in May. It took him a little while to hit his stride in the big leagues, but since late July, he’s been the Cubs’ best starter. He has allowed just four earned runs total in his last nine starts, going 6-1 with a 0.77 ERA in 47 innings, allowing just 24 hits with 44 strikeouts and 14 walks.

His success is thanks to his elite secondary stuff that includes his sweeper (.178 BAA), his curveball (.167 BAA) and his changeup (.111 BAA). His breaking stuff is so good it ranks him in the 85th percentile in the sport. Horton hasn’t racked up a ton of strikeouts, but he’s limited walks and hard contact and induced a lot of groundballs. He’s quickly become the ace of the Cubs’ rotation.”

Bowden’s placement of Horton at no. 3, behind Drake Baldwin and Nolan McLean, for ROY consideration can be debated. What can’t be debated, though, is the young right-hander’s impact on a Cubs pitching staff that has been rocked and hobbled by injury over the course of the season.

The Chicago Cubs’ 2025 revelation

“It’s no surprise when he takes the ball for us and he’s able to do what he does,” Cubs catcher Reese McGuire told media after Horton’s most recent shutout performance. “His confidence, with how young he is and being in this league, getting the experience, he’s impressing a lot of people here.”

“There’s just an attack mentality with quality pitches,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s fun to watch, man. It’s been a really, really impressive start to a Major League career. He’s doing a heck of a job.”

Despite the string of impressive performances, however, there are some causes for concern.

Horton has never thrown more than 88.1 innings in a single season in his baseball career. He’s also had a history of injury, undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021 while in college and having last season in Iowa shut down in late May with a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. This season, between the minors and the majors, he’s already logged 132.2 innings, with the playoffs and the rest of the regular season still to go.

Because of that, Counsell has put a loose pitch count on Horton to preserve his arm. That strategy led to Horton being pulled in the fifth inning of his last start, even though he was working on a no-hitter at the time.

Horton was fine with the decision and actually welcomes the pitch count as motivation to work more efficiently.

“It’s almost like it is a challenge,” Horton told reporters.

Whether he takes the Rookie of the Year award or not, Horton has impressed. He’s not only excelled on the mound, but he’s showcased poise and maturity well beyond his years.

“I feel like I’m supposed to go out there and do that. That’s my job,” Horton told media after his last masterful outing against the Atlanta Braves. “But also, at the end of the day, it is really cool that I’ve put up those numbers. But I’ve got a start in six days and face the same lineup, so [it’s], ‘Go out there and do it again.’ It’s just never really getting complacent.”

Horton will take the mound Tuesday night against the Braves in Atlanta.

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The Chicago Cubs are inching their way to the playoffs, every day getting a bit closer to making postseason play for the first time since the abbreviated 2020 season. Current projections give them right around a 99.8% chance of getting there.

Their placement as the no. 1 Wild Card seed also seems secure at the moment.

But what about once IN postseason play? How do the Cubs match up with their playoff rivals?

That’s the big question and one which gives plenty of cause for concern considering the team’s second-half inconsistencies.

The offense, which is greatly responsible for getting them to their current standing, needs to get fully back on track. That’s a given. But what about everything else?

Chicago Cubs get low ranking in starting pitching

MLB analyst Eno Sarris, in a recent piece for The Athletic, spotlighted one area of concern for the Cubs that may eventually be their downfall. In assessing the projected top 3 starters of all presumed playoff teams, Sarris ranks the Cubs a lowly no. 10 among the 12 teams.

Per Sarris:

“The projections say the Cubs should be last on this list. The Cubs’ top trio of Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton and Matthew Boyd have the second-best ERA to date of any playoff trio. A bit of a conundrum.

ERA is not predictive, so this ranking hews closer to those projected numbers than the ones the Cubs’ starters have put up so far this year. We care more about what they will do than what they have done, after all. So why aren’t they last? Only a handful of playoff teams have seen Horton, who throws a unique fastball that could defy projections. The rookie seems to be coming into his own. Their X-factor.”

The rotation question marks

That’s a pretty harsh assessment, but it’s hard to argue with it, especially considering the insecurity the team is facing when it comes to their playoff rotation.

Matthew Boyd, who performed his way to ace status after Chicago’s offseason gamble on signing him to a 2-year contract, has been stellar up until recently. As of this writing, Boyd has posted a dismal 5.09 ERA over his last 7 outings. His 2.94 ERA this season is deceiving given his recent form and it would be crazy to discard fatigue as a possible cause for his decline. Suffering through Tommy John surgery and assorted other injuries over the last several seasons, Boyd hadn’t pitched over 100 innings in a season since 2019. Could further fatigue or even injury be in his immediate future?

Shota Imanaga should have the freshest arm of the rotation, given that he missed about seven weeks earlier in the season with a hamstring issue. He also has ace-level acumen. But he’s never pitched in an MLB postseason game before.

Cade Horton has been an absolute revelation this season after the injury to Imanaga forced a call-up from the minors much earlier than expected. Except for a couple of hiccups along the way, the 23-year-old has shined, posting a 2.78 ERA for the season so far. His 1.23 ERA since July 3 may end up winning him a Rookie of the Year honor.

But with 132.2 innings logged, between the minors and the majors, so far this season, he’s far surpassed any previous innings tally. Combining the workload with his recent history of injury, Horton presents a lot of question marks from here until the postseason. Manager Craig Counsell is already monitoring his workload and has him working under a loose pitch count.

Close your eyes and cross your fingers

The Cubs will also have Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea, and Javier Assad to throw into the playoff rotation mix if necessary. Trade deadline acquisition Michael Soroka will also be a wild card in this equation if/when he gets healthy enough to take the mound.

But, overall, Sarris’ ranking rings true-ish. There’s just a lot of “close your eyes and cross your fingers” when it comes to the Cubs starting pitching the rest of the way.

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The Chicago Cubs are playoff-bound. Well, to be precise, the odds-making experts give them over a 99% chance of making the postseason.

The team is acting accordingly, erring on the side of caution when it comes to their top playoff assets– that includes rising star/slumping star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong.

On most teams, it would be a no-brainer to bench a guy hitting .160 in a crucial late-season month, with a MLB-worst OPS and wRC+ among qualified hitters. When it comes to PCA, though, the issue becomes more complex as his value to the Cubs comes in his glove and speed, almost as much as with his bat.

PCA pushed into a “reset”

The struggling 23-year-old had been given two full days off prior to Thursday’s off day, giving him a total of three rest days to get his mind and body back into gear. This “reset” is similar to the one given to a slumping Kyle Tucker, near the end of August, after almost two months of struggles at the plate. In the case of Tucker, the pull-back seemed to work as he has batted .400 since his mental/physical reset.

Kevin Alcantara was brought up from Triple-A to provide some support in center and utility man Willi Castro can also step in to cover the position, as he did in Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field.

The objective is to get the young talent’s head back into the game and to allow him some physical rest after playing nearly every inning at the taxing outfield position for the first 5+ months of the season.

“A real break”

“We’re just given a chance with the off day here to give him a real break,” manager Craig Counsell told media before Wednesday’s game. “So just to get him a physical and mental break and then go into the last, essentially, 3 1/2 weeks of the season, hopefully a little bit refreshed…

“I think Pete wanted to play. I thought it was the best idea to — I looked at this frankly early in the [last] road trip. ‘Where could we get Pete a break?’ As the road trip went on, it became obvious to me that we should use this opportunity to give him a little break.

“Pete’s been out there a whole bunch. It’s because of his defense, he’s so valuable on defense, no matter what’s going on at the plate. So for that reason, he’s had very few off days.”

Chicago Cubs in full prep mode for playoffs

The move corresponds with Counsell’s decision to sit Tucker after concerns over a tight calf muscle in Tuesday’s game and the unpopular decision to pull rookie Cade Horton from Wednesday’s game in the fifth inning, after throwing 75 pitches, despite working on a no-hitter. Prior to all of that, Counsell and company made the cautionary move to place pitcher Jameson Taillon on the IL with a groin strain that Taillon, himself, says he might’ve been able to work through.

All of this has been done with the goal of fielding the best and healthiest possible team in the playoffs.

“None of it’s black and white,” Counsell told reporters. “I think you do what’s best for the player first. Always, always do what’s best for the player. And then you have other considerations. You learn lessons in doing this…The benefit outweighs it sometimes as much as you want your best players out there. There’s many examples that I’ve learned from the past. You do what’s right for the player, and you’re not making a mistake.”

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Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton has been pitching on an entirely different level during the second half of the season. After entering the All-Star break with a 4.45 ERA, he’s posted a dominant 0.77 ERA over his last 46 innings, bringing his season ERA down to an impressive 2.78.

One key element behind Horton’s second-half success has been the Cubs’ careful management of his workload. After missing most of last season with a shoulder strain, manager Craig Counsell and the front office opted to limit his pitch count to protect his long-term health.

That strategy drew criticism on Wednesday night, however, when Horton was pulled after five no-hit innings against the Atlanta Braves, only for the bullpen to immediately give up the lead.

Chicago Cubs bullpen blows lead against Atlanta Braves after five no-hit innings from Cade Horton

Following Horton being removed from the game after striking out six batters on 75 pitches, relievers Ben Brown, Drew Pomeranz, and Taylor Rogers all gave up earned runs to the Braves, with Atlanta newcomer Ha-Seong Kim delivering a go-ahead three run home run. Chicago went on to lose this game 5-1 and dropped to six games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division.

Cade Horton defends the Cubs decision

After the game, Cade Horton addressed yet another early exit, saying, “I’d much rather be healthy for the postseason than go out for the 6th or 7th [inning] in early September.”

While Horton hasn’t surpassed 82 pitches in any of his recent outings, the controversy this time stemmed from the context. He was throwing a no-hitter, the bullpen blew the lead, and the Cubs lost ground in the division race. Winning the NL Central remains critical, especially with a first-round bye on the line.

Still, it’s worth noting the Cubs are in a strong position. They currently hold a four-game lead over the second Wild Card team and are nine games ahead of the final Wild Card spot. Chasing the division, and potentially the top seed overall, is important, but as things stand, Chicago is in firm control of hosting a Wild Card series at Wrigley Field

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Chicago Cubs fans know all about Jake Arrieta’s legendary second half in 2015. During his Cy Young-winning campaign, Arrieta posted an unbelievable 0.75 ERA over 15 starts after the All-Star break, highlighted by two complete game shutouts and a stretch of pure dominance rarely seen in MLB history.

Fast forward a decade, and history is somewhat repeating itself, this time by rookie Cubs pitcher Cade Horton. While operating on a pitch count, due to a shoulder strain significantly limiting his volume a season ago, Horton has pitched to a 0.77 ERA in the second half this year. He hasn’t thrown more than 82 pitches since August, but has only given up four earned runs over 47.0 innings pitched.

Cade Horton’s dominant second half is currently MLB’s best ever by a rookie

According to Marquee Sports Network, Horton’s second half ranks as the best in MLB history (minimum eight starts) based on ERA. His performance tops a list that includes some elite company. Jose Fernandez is second with a 1.32 ERA in 2013, followed by Jim Turner’s 1.49 ERA in 1937 and Steve Rogers’ 1.50 ERA in 1973.

What has changed for Cade Horton in the second half?

Before the All-Star break, Cade Horton carried a 4.45 ERA over 56.2 innings, but he’s turned a major corner since then, thanks largely to improved results with his fastball. In the second half, opponents are hitting just .183 against the pitch with a .310 slugging percentage and a 20.4% whiff rate. That’s a dramatic jump from the first half, when hitters teed off on his heater for a .361 average, .472 slugging, and just a 12.4% whiff rate.

As impressive as Horton’s second-half breakout has been, drawing comparisons to Arrieta’s historic 2015 run and ranking as the best ever for a rookie, the Cubs are wisely taking the long view. With his pitch count carefully managed following last year’s shoulder strain, prioritizing Horton’s health is clearly the right move, even if it means controversially removing him after five no-hit innings, as they did against the Braves on September 3.

This means the Cubs will need the rest of their pitching staff to step up until the team feels comfortable loosening the reigns on Horton’s workload. The rookie has made the most of his limited time on the mound, now it’s up to the rest of the rotation and bullpen to match his effectiveness and help keep the momentum going.

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The Chicago Cubs, in the estimation of every entity that makes such projections, are above the 99 percentile when it comes making the playoffs. The question is where, exactly, they will get in.

As things sit right now, the team is three games ahead of the San Diego Padres for the top Wild Card seed, which would give them home field advantage in the first 3-game postseason series. They are five games ahead of the New York Mets, who currently have the no. 3 seed, and nine games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, who are still technically in the Wild Card race.

As such, Chicago is already making moves with an eye on the playoffs, especially when it comes to fielding the best possible team come Game 1 of Series 1.

“We want to be peaking from a health perspective,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell recently told media. “Obviously, we’re coaching every day and trying to get our guys into a good playing mode. That’s a very elusive thing to chase. Of course, you’re chasing the best performance from all your players, and we’re going to continue to chase that.”

With that in mind, here are the three majors areas of concern and/or intrigue when it comes to the Cubs’ postseason run.

Playoff starting rotation

The top three contenders for postseason rotation spots are easy to identify– Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, and Cade Horton. The big question, though, is who will get the start in the first game of the Wild Card series.

Boyd, who is in his first full season since Tommy John surgery and posting his highest inning total since 2019, has been struggling of late. Over his last seven outings, he has a 5.09 ERA and there are legitimate concerns that the inning strain may be getting to him.

Imanaga, who has a 4.29 ERA over his last eight starts, has no major league postseason experience, but may have the freshest arm, since he lost nearly two months earlier in the season with a hamstring injury.

Horton, meanwhile, is a rookie with a history of injury, who has already logged more innings pitched this season than over the course of his entire professional career, combined. He has definitely excelled, especially since the All-Star break, but there’s been plenty of internal concern regarding his durability.

Beyond the top three, there are capable veterans Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea, who will get their time on the mound, but will have greater roles if/when the Cubs make it past the three-game first round.

Offensive rebound

No matter what the pitching does in the postseason, if the Cubs don’t have their offense kicking in, the likelihood of a one-and-done playoff appearance is high. Kyle Tucker appears to have, at least partially, clawed his way out of the career-worst slump that cost him nearly two months of offensive productivity. Still in the doldrums are Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki, who need to be key offensive contributors for the team to fire on all cylinders. If Chicago can get back to being anywhere near as proficient at scoring runs as they were in the first part of the season, they could have a very deep run in the playoffs. But that’s a huge “if.”

Daniel Palencia

Many criticized the Cubs front office when they didn’t pull the trigger on a trade for a potential co-closer at this year’s trade deadline. At the time, the team seemed fine with Daniel Palencia in that role. He definitely looked as close to unhittable as humanly possible since being called up from Triple-A in mid-April, sporting a 1.40 ERA with 14 saves at the July 31 deadline.

But the 25-year-old Palencia has never been a full-time closer and has never felt the kind of pressure that comes along with that role, especially at the postseason-level. A troubling 5.23 ERA in the month of August seems to tell the tale of a pitcher starting to wilt under the late-season strain. And, although the Cubs have an all-around capable bullpen, nobody is truly elite-level closer material.

So, yes, there’s reason for optimism as the Cubs make their first playoff run since 2020, but there’s also a lot to think about and/or worry about as the postseason approaches.

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The Chicago Cubs, with a probability of making the playoffs estimated at over 99%, have all but guaranteed postseason entry.

The real struggle right now is in keeping their Wild Card top seed, which gives them home field advantage in their first playoff series, and in adding depth for their actual postseason run.

At this point, the only way to acquire impact talent is through a minor league call-up or by signing a player released by another team. The Cubs have already dipped into the latter with the reported acquisition of veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, formerly of the Cleveland Guardians.

However, there is another name out there that may be a good fit —Walker Buehler.

Walker Buehler to the Chicago Cubs?

The Boston Red Sox released the two-time All-Star pitcher on Friday after a poor season that saw him recently moved to the bullpen. With a 5.45 ERA in 112.1 innings, the veteran 31-year-old righty, who was acquired on a one-year/$21 million contract in the offseason, was deemed to be taking up a roster spot better used on a young, rising talent.

“It’s tough, but this is where we’re at,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “I know it didn’t go his way, or our way right? He expected more, and we expected more, but the player, the individual, the baseball knowledge, and I still think he has stuff in the tank…He’s close to get rolling, I guess, it just happens that we ran out of time here.”

The rise and fall

Buehler had been with the Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career prior to 2025 and was regarded as one of the elite pitchers in baseball. However, season-killing Tommy John surgery in 2023 and a hip injury the following season stalled his career, and he has yet to get back on track.

The Cubs were reportedly interested in signing him this past offseason, but abandoned the pursuit when the asking price got too high.

Even with two consecutive terrible seasons and an injury-abbreviated 2022, Buehler’s career ERA is a respectable 3.56. In 2021, he posted a 16-4 record with a 2.47 ERA over 207.2 innings. He also turned heads in the 2024 World Series as a Dodger, when he pitched 6 shutout innings over two appearances and notched the series-ending strikeout of Alex Verdugo.

The pursuit of late-season arms

The former ace has already been mentioned as a potential fit for the Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Houston Astros, as well as for his old team, the Dodgers. But he also may fit in quite well for the Cubs, given their particular needs.

When it comes to starting pitching, Chicago currently has Jameson Taillon and trade deadline acquisition Michael Soroka on the IL. Matthew Boyd, who is coming off Tommy John surgery and other physical issues, is working on his first full season since 2019. Rookie Cade Horton has already logged more innings this season, between the majors and the minors, than over the course of his entire young professional career.

Adding another arm to spot start and/or work long relief could be a big help to a tired and strained staff. Buehler’s experience would also give him a huge edge over younger, less experienced swing men like Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks. And suppose the Cubs were able to sign him before midnight Monday morning. In that case, he’d also be eligible for the playoff roster, giving them a veteran presence with a lifetime 3.04 ERA in the postseason.

Adding Buehler would cost the Cubs next to nothing– just a tiny sliver of the league minimum salary. Still, the benefits could be big, especially considering the Cubs’ knack for rehabilitating struggling pitchers. At worst, he eats some innings before being cut loose. It’s something to consider, anyway.

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The Chicago Cubs’ primary objective this past offseason was the playoffs. That’s really no different than every other team. Everyone WANTS to make the postseason.

But the Cubs had made a point of declaring themselves “all-in” when it came to making the playoffs, their first time since the abbreviated 2020 season, hoping to actually get some playoff wins for the first time since 2017.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer made the team’s intentions clear by pulling the trigger on a 3-for-1 trade with the Houston Astros for multi-tool right fielder Kyle Tucker, who was in his last contract year before becoming a free agent.

The Chicago Cubs were “all-in”

The Tucker trade, specifically, told the team that the higher-ups were serious about winning this year.

And the team responded to the vote of confidence by playing like a serious postseason team. They bludgeoned their way into having the best record in baseball at one point. A recent slump, however, has brought the Cubs down to earth a bit and it cost them their first place standing in the NL Central Division.

But their eyes are still on the postseason, even though the route there may have to lead through a Wild Card spot at this point.

That’s why starting pitcher Jameson Taillon now finds himself on the 15-day IL.

Keeping an eye on playoff needs

Taillon, who had just come back from an extended stint on the IL with a right calf strain, experienced some tightness in his left hamstring during his last start on Sunday against the Angels, where he was pulled after just 5 innings and 62 pitches. Even after a subsequent bullpen session produced no extreme discomfort, manager Craig Counsell made the call to place the veteran righty on the IL.

Counsell was not shy about saying that the move was made with an eye on the playoffs.

“I think (Taillon) could go out there and pitch,” Counsell told reporters. “I just don’t think it’s the smart thing to do. We all agree on that. In a different situation, maybe we push this. I don’t think this is the right time to push that.”

Key rotation piece Matthew Boyd has been struggling of late and it has to be noted that he’s working to complete his first full, healthy season on the mound since 2019. Rookie Cade Horton, meanwhile, is at 122.2 innings this year, between Chicago and Iowa, far surpassing his previous season high 88.1 innings. Concern over his arm health already has him working under a loose pitch count.

Even with the previously injured Javier Assad coming up and injured trade deadline acquisition Michael Soroka aiming for a return before too long, the Cubs will need the experienced Taillon in the playoffs.

“In my mind, being a good teammate means taking the ball,” Taillon told media after the move to place him on the IL. “That’s really important to me. I hate going on the IL. But that being said, the way I had this presented to me was: ‘We’re playing for the long haul here. You’d be a bad teammate if you really pound the table and push through this and screw the team for what’s really important here.’

“If I made something worse, and I missed the last couple weeks of September or the playoffs, that’s not the right thing to do. Trying to have that longer-term view and that big-picture view is important.

“We have bigger goals in mind than the next two weeks. “Every game’s extremely important, which is why I have a hard time just accepting it. But hopefully we’re playing deep into October, and hopefully I’m a really big part of that. It’s important to get this right.”

The danger of looking too far ahead

However, while the Cubs seem to be playing it relatively safe in hopes of a deep playoff run, there’s still some concern about the regular season.

Chicago is only 1.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres in the important first Wild Card spot, which would guarantee them home field advantage in the first round. They are only 4 games ahead of the New York Mets, who currently hold the third Wild Card spot in the National League. The Cincinnati Reds, meanwhile, are just 4.5 games behind the Cubs.

The Cubs are not yet guaranteed top seed in the Wild Card series and another prodigious slump could see them slip to third seed or, even worse, out of the playoffs altogether.

It’s hard to question Counsell’s decision to place Taillon on the IL. All things considered, it was the right move to make. But it was also a hefty gamble, considering all of the question marks following the team right now.

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The Chicago Cubs have received a lot of acclaim over the last couple years for the strength of their farm system. At one point, some analysts ranked it among the very elite. One outlier analyst even ranked it no. 1.

Whatever the case, not too long ago, Chicago was regarded as an organization with an abundance of top prospects.

That’s not the case anymore. As a matter of fact, many experts now see the Cubs’ farm system as middle of the pack. A recent ranking from ESPN MLB insider Kiley McDaniel has the team moving towards the bottom tier with the no. 19 spot. In his preseason analysis, he ranked the farm system at no. 10.

From top-tier to middle-of-the-pack

McDaniel blames the downgrade on recent graduations from Triple-A and on a more sparse talent level below Triple-A. However, given the organization’s recent draftees, he does express a degree of hope for a next wave of high-end talent.

Per McDaniel:

“The Cubs graduated Matt Shaw and Cade Horton this year after Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown, and Daniel Palencia last season.

This current prospect crop is headlined by players who have already debuted (Moises Ballesteros, Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcantara) or are in the upper levels of the minors (Jefferson Rojas, Jaxon Wiggins, Jonathon Long, Brandon Birdsell). I liked their recent draft crop, led by RF Ethan Conrad, LF Josiah Hartshorn, CF Kane Kepley, and RHP Kaleb Wing, and think there’s enough talent at the lower levels to make a next wave of talent.”

Cuban draftee should help boost minors

Add Ronald Lazaro Mena to that lower-level wave of talent after the Cubs recently signed the 18-year-old Cuban standout pitcher to a six-figure deal as an international free agent. Acquiring the young talent this late in the year, so far beyond the January 15 international free agent draft and for such a comparatively large signing bonus, is regarded as a sign that the young hurler is at an advanced stage of development for his age (and that he may have had other big league teams vying for his signature). Scouts have noted that Mena is already touching 92 mph on his fastball.

The top-heavy Chicago Cubs farm system

It is true, however, that the Cubs’ minor league system is top-heavy when it comes to the distribution of its high-end prospects.

Horton, who was recently listed by Draft Kings as the betting favorite to win NL Rookie of the year honors, and Shaw graduated to the majors this year. Daniel Palencia moved from Triple-A to the majors as well. Owen Caissie is on the major league roster right now. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Michael Busch, and Ben Brown are not too far removed from being minor league assets.

Knocking on the door right now are Triple-A prospects Moises Ballesteros, Kevin Alcantara, Jonathon Long, Brandon Birdsell, James Triantos and Double-A pitcher Jaxon Wiggins. Many regard these prospects, to varying degrees, as already being major league-ready.

With so much major league talent (or near-major league talent) in their low-to-mid 20s, there’s really no dire urgency right now when it comes to the farm system. There is definitely time for the organization to restock and nurture younger talent. And it’s not like there is a total dearth of talent at the lower levels.

The Cubs’ tumble from the top-tier of the farm system rankings is more of a warning shot than a death blow, right now.

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The Chicago Cubs had one of “those” kinds of wins Saturday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. It was a nice, comfy, comfortable 12-1 victory where the result was never really in doubt.

This kind of win couldn’t have come at a better time. In recent weeks, it seems that the team has had to struggle and strain to eke out every single “W.” This last one, though, was, well, really, really pleasant…and it may be the catalyst for even better days to come.

Built into Saturday’s rout was a heaping helping of heroics from several different players. There was also some historic significance to those heroics.

Kyle Tucker makes Cubs history

The biggest story of the evening was Kyle Tucker’s 2-home run, 5-RBI, 3-for-5 performance at the plate. Since coming alive from a dire, extended slump on Friday night, the right-fielder is 4-for-9 with 3 home runs and 6 RBIs.

With the two homers hit on Saturday– his first multi-homer game for the Cubs– Tucker is now a 20-20 man (at least 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases) for the third time in his career. Him and Pete Crow-Armstrong now make up the first 20-20 tandem in Cubs history.

The four-time All-Star told reporters after Saturday’s game that he was “fine” after a run of frustrations that saw him work through a hairline fracture in his hand and then deal with the ordeal of a brutal slump that lasted nearly two full month.

“I don’t know how tomorrow’s going to go,” Tucker said, with his usual deadpan delivery. “You try and do your best at it. But at the same time, the guys on the other team get paid pretty well to do their job as well. You just try and take stuff pitch-by-pitch, one at-bat and game-by-game.”

Cade Horton’s historic excellence

Overshadowed by the story of Tucker’s revival was Cade Horton’s continued excellence on the mound.

The rookie starter threw 6 shutout innings, allowing just 3 hits while striking out 7. The performance, amid concerns of a possible blister issue, lowered Horton’s ERA to 2.88. It also made some history.

The 24-year-old now holds the Cubs record for the fewest earned runs (2) over a 7-start span, topping Cubs World Series heroes Jon Lester (3) and Jake Arrieta (3). He’s also delivered the most scoreless starts of 5+ innings in all of baseball since July 1.

How good has Horton been?

In his 9 starts since July 1, he’s notched a minuscule 1.11 ERA.

In Saturday’s outing, he showcased his go get ‘em control by throwing the first 21 pitches of the game for strikes.

“His efficiency and how many outs he’s getting in these outings … I didn’t expect this when we decided to do this,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the game. “He’s been incredible with it. It’s helped us out a ton and it’s helped our bullpen out a ton.”

“I think that’s just kind of the way I pitch,” Horton told media Saturday night. “It’s get ahead, stay ahead. Just continuing to stay on the attack and letting the result be what it is…I’ll be able to sleep good tonight, but tomorrow, it’s back to work.”

Chicago Cubs heroics all-around

Also able to sleep well that night was backup catcher Reese McGuire who hit his first-ever grand slam and delivered a career-tying high 5 RBIs.

Then, there was Ben Brown, who came in relief of Horton and allowed 1 earned run in 3 innings to take the save.

First baseman Michael Busch also came out of his own slump with a 2-for-5 game, hitting a double and driving in a run.

All in all, Saturday’s battering of the Angels was just what the doctor ordered for the well-being of a Cubs team hoping to create momentum heading into the postseason.

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The Chicago Cubs have just been a .500 team since the All-Star break. Actually, they’ve been around that 50-50 mark for the last couple months.

Blame that on the Cubs’ offense, which went from an elite-scoring powerhouse to a bottom tier player.

But considering just how awful the offense has been in recent weeks/months, it’s actually a bit surprising that the team is doing as well as .500.

Credit that to the Cubs’ starting pitching.

An under-the-radar story over this latter part of the season is the Cubs’ rotation and just how tremendous it has been.

On Thursday, Shota Imanaga delivered another solid performance, despite the team coming up short in a 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. In a start where things didn’t quite click at first, he righted his ship, allowing 2 earned runs on three hits over 7 innings while striking out 5.

“I thought Shota got better as the game went on,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the game. “Little bit of command issues early in the game, and as he settled in, he pitched really, really well. In a week like this, where you’re trying to get relievers rest, seven innings will help us moving forward.”

The excelling Chicago Cubs starting rotation

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic spotlighted the Cubs starting pitching awesomeness in a Thursday evening piece.

Per Sharma:

“Since June 25, Cubs starters have a 3.02 ERA, best in baseball. The next closest staff, the Boston Red Sox, is at 3.31. These pitchers aren’t elite at getting groundballs or strikeouts. But they limit walks and hard contact and have an entire defense that helps them limit damage.”

Since the All-Star break: Matthew Boyd has a 3.47 ERA, Shota Imanaga has a 3.64 ERA, Cade Horton has a 0.58 ERA, and Colin Rea has a 4.08 ERA. Jameson Taillon, meanwhile, just came back from the IL, allowing 1 earned run in 6 innings in his first start since June 29.

That’s a tremendous overall post All-Star run for a staff pushing itself through the second half of the season and, frankly, burdened by a flat-lining offense that’s allowing them almost zero margin for error.

Cade Horton in the spotlight

The rookie Horton, who just turned 24 this week, is obviously the biggest revelation of the bunch. His recent dominant run has brought up a lot of Rookie of the Year chatter, even considering the loaded rookie class this season.

The Cubs’ 2022 first-round draft pick was brought up from Triple-A much earlier than anticipated, following the Imanaga hamstring injury in early May. There were thoughts that maybe he wouldn’t be ready for a full-time stint in the majors, but despite the occasional hiccup, Horton held strong. And then he went from holding strong to excelling. A blister issue in his last start put some question marks in his future, but the latest news on that setback is positive. As things look, he may not even miss a start.

Things could’ve gone horribly

Overall, the Cubs’ starting rotation has been a surprise success story the whole season. Things, though, could’ve definitely gone off the rails very early in the season.

In spring training, they lost projected fifth starter Javier Assad to an oblique injury. They just recently got him back. Early in April, they lost ace Justin Steele with an elbow injury that required surgery. About a month after losing Steele, Imanaga went down for several weeks with his hamstring issue. Then, in very early July, Jameson Taillon was lost for over a month with a right calf strain.

Through the stress and the strain, however, the starting corps has held together better than expected, showing grit and execution beyond what most expected.

If/when the Cubs push their way into the postseason, the rotation is showing that what may have been considered a weakness at one point is now a strength.

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The Chicago Cubs are in the middle of a critical series with their divisional rival, the Milwaukee Brewers, which could affect the lead for the National League Central. The Cubs made a few roster moves ahead of the series with the Brewers, hoping to give them a chance of taking three out of five games.

Sadly, the series got off on the wrong foot, with rookie right-hander Cade Horton leaving the game with an injury, which hopefully won’t hurt the Cubs in the long run.

Chicago Cubs Cade Horton leaves the game early due to injury

Horton, 23, has been one of the Cubs’ better starters this season, going 7-3 with a 3.08 ERA in 87.2 innings (17 games). Horton was the starter for today’s game against the Brewers and was pitching great through 2.2 innings until he was removed due to a blister, according to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score.

“Cubs starter Cade Horton out of game the 3rd with apparent blister issue.”

Cubs starter Cade Horton out of game the 3rd with apparent blister issue.

— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) August 18, 2025

Drew Pomeranz was the pitcher to replace Horton, going 1.1 innings, allowing no hits, no walks, and striking out none.

Hopefully, this is nothing long-lasting

Given this is a blister, Horton may not require an IL stint and could only miss one start depending on the severity of the blister. The Cubs will need Horton to remain healthy and continue to pitch well to get back on the right track and give the Brewers a fight down the stretch run.

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The Chicago Cubs are seriously down on their luck.

The team has posted a feeble 3-7 record in their last 10 games and has fallen 9 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division. They’re also now in danger of losing their top NL Wild Card seat to either the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres, who are currently battling for first place in the NL West.

Things could seemingly not get worse for the slumping Cubs. But, oh yeah, they absolutely could get much worse. Here are three nightmare scenarios that should have Cubs fans on pins and needles for the rest of the season.

A pitching collapse

The Cubs are walking the tightrope when it comes to their pitching staff, counting on good fortune and a touch of magical thinking to keep everyone healthy and effective.

In the rotation, Matthew Boyd has established himself as the ace in the absence of Justin Steele. His 2.46 ERA has been a godsend for a staff sent into a bit of a free fall when Steele went down with a season-ending elbow injury and Shota Imanaga hit the IL for several weeks about a month later.

However, the 34-year-old Boyd, who has a history of injury and underwent Tommy John surgery in mid-2023, is at 142.2 innings pitched, his highest total since 2019. Last season with the Cleveland Guardians, he managed only 50.1 innings between the regular season and the postseason. Prior to the season, after signing him to a 2-year deal as a free agent, the Cubs targeted 120 innings as Boyd’s realistic season goal. Necessity has forced Boyd to go well beyond that target and there exists a distinct possibility of a breakdown at some point.

Also facing durability issues is rookie Cade Horton, who has been a true revelation, especially over his last several starts. The 23-year-old is at 114 innings between the minors and the majors (85 in Chicago and 29 in Iowa), well beyond what he’s thrown at any point of his young career.

In last year’s injury-shortened season, he could only muster 34.1 innings. In his previous three minor league seasons, he’s never pitched more than 88.1 innings. Manager Craig Counsell already has the young star on somewhat of a pitch count, attempting to negate the possibility of injury or fatigue.

Keep in mind, as well, that Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad are also coming off lengthy stints on the IL.

Going into the bullpen, there are several question marks, but none as potentially devastating as the possible mess when it comes to the closer. Daniel Palencia has had a breakthrough year, coming up from the minors in mid-April to eventually earn his spot as the closer. The 25-year-old Palencia has been spectacular in the role, but it needs to be pointed out that this is his first serious major league run and, most definitely, his first time in such a high-stress position. His 5.40 ERA in August so far could be a sign of mental/physical fatigue.

PCA injury

After a first half of the season full of accolades, record-setting, and talk of being an emerging legend, the second half has been a humbling and likely frustrating run for Pete Crow-Armstrong. Add to that the Cubs’ general offensive drought since late June, along with their tumble from first place, and you get a recipe for disaster when it comes to the young star. The 23-year-old PCA has noticeably been pressing of late, diving for uncatchable balls in center field and taking some additional gambles at the plate and on the bases. When a player presses too hard, accidents often follow. The last thing the Cubs would want is to lose Crow-Armstrong for the rest of this season or beyond.

No playoffs

It didn’t take long for the Brewers to put a lot of distance between themselves and the Cubs atop the NL Central. Lost in the first place takeover, however, is the fact that the Padres have also been on a tear. With the Padres and Dodgers now tied for first place in the NL West, the Cubs are the NL Wild Card no. 1 seat due only to a statistical technicality.

Both the Padres and Dodgers are a half-game better in the standings than the Cubs, who will soon most likely have to settle for the no. 2 Wild Card seat. Below the Cubs, the New York Mets are just 4.5 games behind and the Cincinnati Reds are 5 games behind. If the Cubs keep on their downward trajectory, they may find themselves out of the playoff picture entirely.

So, yes, things could get even worse. Cross your fingers.

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The Chicago Cubs front office faced a lot of pressure to make some big, bold moves before the July 31 trade deadline in order to acquire the front-of-rotation starter everyone said they needed.

As things would turn out, team president Jed Hoyer essentially opted to stand pat, dealing a minimal amount of prospects for the modest haul of swing man Michael Soroka, relievers Taylor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge, and infielder/outfielder Willi Castro.

But, apparently, there were opportunities to do something huge at the deadline, something involving the team’s 23-year-old former top pitching prospect and current big league rotation piece Cade Horton.

Teams approached the Chicago Cubs about Cade Horton

“He came up in some trade discussions,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer recently told The Athletic. “To trade a guy (like) him with his amount of control to get a guy with less control, it didn’t make a lot of sense, along with a bunch of other pieces as well.”

Hoyer didn’t expand on the discussions, but it’s hard to imagine an asset available at the trade deadline who would’ve been worth trading Horton.

The rookie just pitched 5 and 2/3 innings of scoreless, 2-hit ball in Wednesday’s 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, striking out six and walking none. He’s currently on a 4-start run of shutout performances and has looked every bit the ace the Cubs hoped he would be when they made him their first round draft pick in 2022, despite Tommy John surgery the year prior and limited college baseball experience.

Horton’s season ERA is now 3.18 in 79.1 innings since his May call-up following the Shota Imanaga injury. He’s almost single-handedly pushing back on the notion that the Cubs rotation is just Imanaga, Matthew Boyd and a lot of question marks.

Even if he weren’t on a stellar current run, though, dealing Horton would’ve been a supremely odd decision to make for a team looking for young arms with years of team control. Still, there were a few fans and pundits out there willing to let him go for someone they felt was more big-game secure.

Horton is not only grateful for Chicago not trading him, but also for the vote of confidence in not feeling the burning need to fill his spot in the rotation with a more veteran trade acquisition.

“It means a lot,” Horton said. “I feel like I just wanna go out there, do my job and help this team win. We got a really good group in there. Just being able to do my part, whatever’s asked of me, is the big thing.”

Concerns…

There are some concern, though.

Last season, Horton was shut down in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. This season, between the majors and the minors, he’s so far thrown 108.1 innings– far surpassing his previous minor league career high of 88.1 innings pitched.

For that reason, manager Craig Counsell has implemented somewhat of a pitch count on the young rising star. In Wednesday’s game, for instance, he was pulled after just 67 pitches.

“We want a healthy Cade Horton,” Counsell told reporters after the game. “We want a strong Cade Horton for the rest of the season. So we’re going to have to make some tough decisions, that’s just part of it. It’s the right thing to do for the team and for Cade.”

Cubs give Horton votes of confidence

Horton has been winning over fans and teammates since day one with the big league squad, though.

“The one thing that really, really impressed me was just his mound presence in New York,” shortstop Dansby Swanson told reporters back in May, referring back to Horton’s first major league showing against the New York Mets. “Anyone can dive into the stuff and say, ‘Oh, it’s really good.’ The velocity’s back up. The breaking ball’s always been really good. You can measure that kind of stuff.

“But there’s something about his presence on the mound. The game never felt fast for him. He seemed to want the moments. Those are the things that you really want and need to see. He was obviously pretty locked in for that. I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

“He’s a really good competitor,” Counsell told media, also back in May. “He wants to be great. Those are good attributes…He’s been through some adversity, despite being this highly thought of prospect. He went through some big adversity last year and I think that’s a good thing. Growth comes from those places.”

Horton has definitely earned his spot in the Cubs rotation and the hope is that he will become everything he was scouted to be.

The Cubs’ decision to not trade him was a no-brainer.

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The Chicago Cubs were reported to be aggressive buyers prior to the July 31 trade deadline this year, focused on the fact that the team desperately needed high-end starting pitching if they were to be serious candidates for a deep playoff run. Names such as Mitch Keller, Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantara, Mackenzie Gore, Merrill Kelly, and Zac Gallen were said to be targets.

Instead, they ended up with Michael Soroka…only.

Of the team’s four trade deadline acquisitions, two were relievers, one was an infielder/outfielder, and the other was the Washington Nationals starter.

It was a disappointing haul for a team with clearly defined needs and, seemingly, the prospect capital and budget to pick up who they needed for their playoff run.

Soroka adds concerns to an already-strained Chicago Cubs rotation

Soroka’s 4.87 ERA in 16 appearances this season doesn’t inspire confidence. Neither does a history of injury that had kept him under 80 innings pitched since 2019 until this year’s 81.1 innings so far.

The righty will be wedged into the strained Cubs rotation, beginning this Monday, on his 28th birthday. It’ll give the team one more starter with concerns, constraints, limitations, and/or question marks heading into the heat of the postseason push.

Rookie Cade Horton is another starter with doubt attached. The 23-year-old has been brilliant of late, delivering 5 shutout innings in the Cubs’ 1-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. Over his last five starts, he’s sporting a stellar 1.25 ERA, with all four earned runs during that stretch coming in one outing.

But Horton is at 102.2 innings pitched on the season, between the minors and the majors. In last year’s injury-shortened season, he only registered 34.1 innings. In his previous three minor league seasons, he’s never pitched more than 88.1 innings. There is legitimate concern over his durability over this long 2025 haul, something which was evident with the quick hook he got on Friday after five innings and just 71 pitches.

“It’s just something that we’re going to keep an eye on with Cade for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after this last game. “And when there’s opportunities and moments to [pull him early], we’re going to do it.

“He got to start on normal rest here and we got five innings from him. So yeah, we’re gonna pick some spots here [to] just lessen the innings.”

Matthew Boyd is also a concern

The same durability concerns applying to Soroka and Horton also apply to Matthew Boyd, who’s been brilliant this year.

Boyd, coming off Tommy John surgery last year and other injuries prior to that, hadn’t logged more than 100 innings since 2019. He has 123.2 so far this year.

The difference between Boyd and Soroka and Horton, however, is that the Cubs can’t really afford to meter and restrict Boyd’s usage since he’s become the rotation ace and an absolutely crucial component to the team’s success.

For now, the Cubs’ only strategy with the 34-year-old is to cross their fingers and hope for continued good health.

The rest of the rotation

Chicago’s other top pitcher, Shota Imanaga, has already been out of commission for several weeks with a hamstring strain, although he has emerged as, perhaps, the sturdiest of the rotation pieces.

Also in the starting rotation mix is Jameson Taillon, who is currently on the IL, coming back from a right calf strain. Javier Assad, who has missed the entire season with oblique issues, is beginning a rehab assignment in Triple-A and could be back, along with Taillon, in mid-August. Another starter, veteran swing man Colin Rea, has been up and down all season. Then, there’s sophomore Ben Brown, who, despite solid potential, has been mostly down.

So, in summary, the Cubs are rolling into the month of August and into the deep end of the pennant race with eight potential starters in a 5-man rotation– five of them with injury or durability issues and two with performance issues.

Not getting at least one more sure-thing starter at the trade deadline has put the Cubs in a tough spot. They’re going to need a whole lot of savvy managerial maneuvering and a great amount of good luck when it comes to a starting rotation already ranked in the bottom half of baseball.

However, at this point, one can only hope for the best.

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The Chicago Cubs are back from the All-Star break, done with the draft, and now ready to get down to the business of filling roster holes for what they hope to be a deep playoff run.

With the July 31 trade deadline approaching, buzz is everywhere regarding an aggressive Cubs front office and the moves they might make.

The latest buzz centers around the team’s efforts to get the best out of a shaky seller’s market by picking up multiple roster needs from one team.

One-stop trade deadline shopping for the Chicago Cubs?

Matthew Trueblood of North Side Baseball is reporting that, according to his sources, Chicago has been discussing multi-player deals with the Oakland A’s and Arizona Diamondbacks and that they are open to other outside the box trades involving multiple pickups.

Per Trueblood:

“They’ve already begun engaging teams about trades that would break out of the traditional box for July moves, by doing some one-stop shopping and/or by swapping current big-leaguers out for others.

Sources familiar with talks identified the Diamondbacks and the Athletics as teams with whom the Cubs have discussed multi-player deals in which they would check off more than one box on their shopping list.”

A’s, Diamondbacks, and others?

When it comes to the last-place A’s, the possible names of interest would be starter Luis Severino, reliever Mason Miller, and infielder Luis Urias.

The 31-year-old Severino sports an ugly 5.16 ERA in 20 starts this season, but a good deal of that ugliness may be coming from the A’s temporary move to Sacramento and the poor conditions of that park. Severino’s road ERA this season is a much more palatable 3.04. Cubs president Jed Hoyer may see him as one of those players whose numbers don’t tell the full tale and who would respond favorably to a change of atmosphere. The 10-year veteran’s contract might be a bit of a catch as he’s making $20 million this year and set to make $25 million the next, with a $22 million player option for 2027.

Miller is a stud of a reliever whose 4.04 ERA is not as damning as it would appear. Half of his earned runs allowed this season come from two poor outing in May. Excluding those two performances, his season ERA is 2.09 and he hasn’t allowed an earned run since June 20. Once believed to be an untouchable asset, the A’s are reportedly softening on the possibility of dealing the 26-year-old, who is under team control for four more (arbitration-eligible) years.

Urias, a free agent at the end of this season, would be picked up as a third baseman, but can also play second base and shortstop. He’d be part of a deal as a replacement for Matt Shaw or, at the very least, as one more puzzle piece for third base.

As for the Diamondbacks, the Cubs’ targets are much more obvious.

Third baseman Eugenio Suarez would bring an elite right-handed power bat to the already potent Cubs lineup. The All-Star slugger is eligible for free agency at the end of this season.

The other Arizona targets are starting pitchers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, who will both become free agents this offseason. Kelly is having a better season than Gallen, with an ERA more than two points lower (3.34 vs. 5.40). Both right-handers, however, could prove to be quality assets in a strained Cubs starting rotation.

The A’s or D-backs trade packages differ in that Arizona is offering nothing but rentals, whereas Oakland could be sending back two pitchers under team control beyond 2025.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins could also be in the mix when it comes to one-stop trade partners.

The asking price

In such a large multi-player deal, though, it’s likely that the Cubs would have to trade away a field-ready (or near field-ready) asset as well as prospects. Could Matt Shaw, Ben Brown, or even Cade Horton be part of such a deal, along with a top prospect such as Owen Caissie, Moises Ballesteros, or Kevin Alcantara?

Things should get interesting over the next several days.

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The Chicago Cubs have enjoyed an outstanding year so far, with lots of memorable moments already accounted for in a campaign just a little more than halfway through.

With Wednesday’s extra-innings win over the Cleveland Guardians, the Cubs have also extended their lead in the NL Central Division to 4 games over the Milwaukee Brewers (as of this writing) and 5.5 games over the St. Louis Cardinals (also, as of this writing), who now come to Chicago for a key weekend series.

Most of the outstanding Cubs memories in 2025 have centered around the team’s offensive prowess, which ranks among baseball’s very best. Pitching, meanwhile, has not been as much of a good news source.

The bad news Chicago Cubs pitching

Ace Justin Steele went down with an elbow injury in early April and won’t be back until some time in mid-2026 at the earliest. Projected fifth starter Javier Assad has been out of commission since spring training with an oblique issue and may or may not be able to contribute this season. Shota Imanaga missed about five weeks with a hamstring strain.

Porter Hodge also missed some time with injury and has generally under-performed this season. Ben Brown didn’t pan out as a viable rotation piece and has been sent to the minors. And now, the news broke that starter Jameson Taillon will be placed on the IL, likely to miss a key month of the season, with a right calf strain.

But it hasn’t been all doom and gloom for Cubs pitching– and Wednesday’s game highlighted that fact.

But, some good news

Starter Cade Horton had the best outing of his young career, pitching 7 scoreless innings and striking out 5 against 5 hits and 2 walks, generating a 50% ground ball rate. The gem for the rookie and top Cubs pitching prospect comes directly after, arguably, his worst outing on June 27 against the Houston Astros where he gave up 7 earned runs in 4 innings pitched.

Horton has a 4.15 ERA for the season, but Wednesday’s outing showcased his true potential and proved that he has the grit and resolve to come back from adversity. In a strained starting rotation, the 23-year-old coming into his own right now would be a godsend.

A fairy tale bullpen

On the bullpen side of things, surprise asset Drew Pomeranz pitched a scoreless two-thirds of an inning. The appearance is the righty’s 26th straight appearance without allowing an earned run and it was a bit of a history maker.

Per the Just Baseball social media account:

“Drew Pomeranz has now thrown 26 straight scoreless appearances to start the season.

That’s the longest such streak in MLB history by a player age 36 or older.”

Pomeranz was acquired in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, for “cash considerations,” in late April and hadn’t previously pitched in the majors since 2021.

The feel-good Pomeranz story syncs up with a Cubs bullpen tale that has so far been a surprising success story overall.

Comprised mostly of castoffs, reclamation projects, and previously unproven young pitchers, the Cubs relief corps has come together under the guidance of manager Craig Counsell and staff as, currently, one of the best bullpens in the league and, arguably, the absolute best in all of baseball since late April.

Some would argue that the bullpen, along with starter Matthew Boyd and random assorted high-end performances here and there, have kept the Cubs steady and postseason-viable.

With the July 31 trade deadline approaching and Chicago’s front office focused on pitching, reinforcements may be on the way for the strained Cubs staff. But this crew has already shown itself capable of resilience and sparks of magic.

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The Chicago Cubs are at a pivotal point in not only this 2025 season, but in their chances of success in the following years.

For that reason, their movements before the July 31 trade deadline will be especially important.

Some are saying that Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is a victim of his own success. Compelled by the need to make the playoffs for the first time in his reign as top exec and by his own expiring contract (two intertwined pressures), he built a team that has the grit, gumption, defense, and offensive prowess to be a World Series-viable team when the goal for this year was, maybe, just to make a postseason-viable team.

Chicago Cubs: Ahead of the curve, against the wall

What this means is that this 2025 product wasn’t meant to be the fully-actualized Cubs/Hoyer product just yet. It was meant to be the 2015 learning-curve campaign that seasoned the crew before the 2016 World Series victory.

But this year’s squad has been so good and has bubbled over with so much magical winner’s chemistry that there’s now a palpable pressure to skip the learning curve and jump right to the World Series.

Realistically, though, the Cubs are lacking some key pieces to make that jump.

And that’s why there’s so much pressure focused on Chicago’s moves prior to the trade deadline.

Starting pitching woes

The starting rotation, specifically, is a major concern. As it stands now, Shota Imanaga is at the top, one start into his return from hamstring injury. Below him is Matthew Boyd, who has pitched extremely well, but who also has an extensive history of injury and hasn’t logged over 100 innings pitched since 2019. Then there’s Jameson Taillon, who has pitched solidly at times, but has recently been swatted around.

Beyond that, the starting corps is all crossed fingers and wishful thinking with rookie Cade Horton and veteran swing man Colin Rea currently manning back-of-rotation duties– and taking on water while trying. Wildly inconsistent sophomore Ben Brown has been sent to Triple-A alongside once-upon-a-time rotation hopeful Jordan Wicks, who is returning from injury. Then, there’s projected fifth starter Javier Assad, who’s been battling an oblique issue all season and has yet to throw one competitive big league pitch this year.

This spells big trouble if the 2025 Cubs want to have a serious shot at going deep into the postseason. It could even be argued that they’re one starting pitching injury away from possibly being out of the playoff picture entirely

More than just one rental pitcher away

Lindsey Willhite of Deadspin recently opined that the team will need to target two quality starters prior to the deadline to have a serious shot at doing something big this postseason.

Per Willhite:

“To solve this shortcoming, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer and his cabinet need to be even bolder than they were when they acquired [Kyle] Tucker in the offseason.

They have maneuvered themselves into a place where they’re closer to the Dodgers and Mets than they could have realistically projected. But if they’re going to wait to be equals before they strike, then they might as well sell the team.

The Dodgers, with their billions of dollars and their brilliant front office, are never going away. Mets owner Steve Cohen’s wallet will be wide open every offseason and every trade deadline.

That means now’s the time to peel a prospect or five off their thick stack of youngsters and acquire two legitimate starters — guys who can get the Cubs through five innings in an October setting.

And don’t just focus on the rentals.”

Willhite mentions checking in on Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians, Nathan Eovaldi of the Texas Rangers, and Mitch Keller of the Pittsburgh Pirates, among others. All of them under contract beyond 2025.

The strategy is clear, though. And it’s not incorrect.

Picking up two high-end starters would turn this Cubs team into a real big-prize contender and not just a feel-good fairy tale hopeful. But to add two high-end starters who are team controlled beyond this season would provide a huge boost to the franchise over the next several years. That’s why the idea of a trade with the Miami Marlins for Sandy Alcantara or Edward Cabrera has gotten so much attention.

But would it be worth emptying out their farm system to pull the trigger on two major pitching acquisitions? That’s the question Jed Hoyer must ponder.

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The Chicago Cubs are “for real.”

They currently sit atop the NL Central Division with a fairly comfortable 6.5 game lead (as of this writing) and don’t show any real signs of slippage.

Powered by a versatile and potent offense, the team has frequently pounded opposition with hits, stolen bases, and runs. Manager Craig Counsell and staff have also turned a ragtag crew of mostly castoff pitchers into one of the better bullpens in the league, completely flipping a team weakness into a strength.

Even the starting rotation has held together relatively well, especially considering the loss of ace Justin Steele for the season, the extended loss of co-ace Shota Imanaga, and the season unavailability, thus far, of Javier Assad.

However, if there’s a chink in the Cubs armor and a real cause for concern when it comes to the team’s ability to make a deep playoff run, it’s with their starting pitching.

The Chicago Cubs’ need for pitching

Simply put, the team needs another quality starter to add alongside Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, and a returning Imanaga as they make their postseason push.

That’s why it’s widely believed that the Cubs are going to be aggressively pursuing a deal for a high-end starter prior to the July 31 trade deadline.

Among the many rumored Cubs targets is former Cy Young award winner Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins.

The 29-year-old is coming back from Tommy John surgery and hadn’t pitched since 2023. This year has not gone well so far as the righty has posted a 6.88 ERA in 14 games started. However, the raw physical ability appears to be there and his contract status as a team-controlled pitcher this year, next year, and with a team option for 2027 make him an attractive trade target.

The Cubs have reportedly checked in on his availability “multiple times.”

A former exec’s widely-panned Alcantara-to-Cubs trade proposal

With buzz all around and rumors flying, former MLB general manager and current MLB insider Jim Bowden recently placed the Alcantara-to-the-Cubs trade as no. 1 among trades he’d like to see happen in a piece at The Athletic.

Per Bowden:

“Marlins trade RHP Sandy Alcantara to Cubs for RHP Cade Horton, OF Owen Caissie, OF Kelvin Alcántara and SS Ronny Cruz”

The huge prospect haul in the trade proposal drew the attention of many media people, who laughed off the idea of a 4-top-prospects-for-Alcantara trade.

Jed Hoyer gets a chuckle

Matt Spiegel of the Spiegel & Holmes Show on 670 The Score brought the trade idea directly to Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer…who promptly (and literally) laughed it off.

“Listen, I think the trade deadline is sort of like (the) NFL Draft in which it almost becomes its own industry,” Hoyer said. “I know that a lot of people have opinions about what people should do, and listen, it’s fun.

“I like the fact that people are always talking about the trade deadline, but ultimately, I don’t read that stuff for a reason.”

Bowden targeting this Cubs-Marlins deal as a wish list trade flies in the face of his June 12 report at The Athletic, which said that Alcantara was pretty much off the table at this point.

Per Bowden:

“Don’t expect the Marlins to trade Sandy Alcantara (7.14 ERA over 13 starts) while his value is down. Instead, they’re expected to keep him until he regains his Cy Young Award form, which might not happen until later this year and maybe even next.

They can always shop Alcantara, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, in the offseason or the next trade deadline. (His contract includes a $21 million team option for 2027.)”

As for the proposed trade, itself?

Trading away your top pitching prospect (who’s actually doing pretty well in the majors at the moment), your no. 2 and no. 4 prospects (the top two outfield prospects in the organization), and a no. 13 prospect for a pitcher who is just coming back from Tommy John surgery and is not in top form by a long shot IS pretty funny.

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The Chicago Cubs lost a rough one on Friday, dropping a 2-1 nail-biter in the 10th inning.

It was especially rough since it was actually a winnable contest against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball.

Fans would’ve been forgiven if they had simply chalked up Friday’s game as an “L” beforehand and focused their hopes on Saturday. The 23-year-old Pittsburgh phenom came into the contest with a miniscule 1.88 ERA and a reputation for shutting down the most potent of offenses.

And, Friday, he was every bit as tough as expected, shutting the North Siders out over 5 innings pitched.

Going toe-to-toe with Paul Skenes

But the Cubs actually had a chance to win that game because rookie Cade Horton was going toe-to-toe with Skenes, matching– and surpassing– the top pitcher’s top-tier performance.

In 5.2 innings pitched, the 23-year-old Horton allowed just 3 hits and 1 walk while also shutting out his opposition.

In just his seventh major league appearance, matched against a legitimate Cy Young-level star, Chicago’s top pitching prospect looked like an ace, himself. And that leads to the possibility that Horton has found his big league stride and has taken that big step forward in his development, moving towards full self-actualization as a high-end starting pitcher.

Cade Horton wants all the smoke

“It’s fun. Iron sharpens iron,” Horton told reporters after Friday’s game, referring to his duel with Skenes. “Being able to compete against him was really fun. And hopefully, we’re doing it for a lot of years…I’m not scared of the moment. I love the moment — just going out there and competing.”

The young pitcher’s “want all the smoke” attitude has been duly noted since he arrived in the majors in early May, rushed up into service after Cubs ace Shota Imanaga was placed on the IL due to a hamstring injury. At the time, Horton was killing it at Triple-A, posting a 1.24 ERA in 6 starts for the Iowa Cubs. If not for the Imanaga injury, he might still be killing it in Triple-A.

But fate is fate and, ready or not, Horton’s time would be now. He’s responded well, inching forward in his development as a pitcher and currently posting a 3.47 ERA in 36.1 big league innings.

“He’s pitching really well,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told media after Friday’s performance. “He’s locked in and he’s delivering good outings. He’s efficient. His stuff plays in the strike zone, which is such an important thing for a young pitcher to feel. I look forward to giving him the ball the next time.”

The rough road here

The young talent’s time in the pitching spotlight, dating back to college, has not afforded him an easy road to the top.

Selected by the Cubs in the first round in 2022, the decision raised eyebrows because, at the time, he wasn’t too far removed from the 2021 Tommy John surgery that shut him down as a college freshman in Oklahoma.

Last season, his year ended in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder.

Up until the emergency call-up in May, pretty much everybody in the Cubs organization was talking up Horton’s ability, but playing down the possibility that he’d be playing a big role in the Cubs starting rotation this season. He had just logged too few pro innings and was coming off a serious season-ending injury.

He’s definitely been a pleasant surprise for a Cubs team dealing with a decimated starting rotation. The best part is that he actually appears to be trending upward in terms of his performances.

There’s no doubt that the Cubs have needed what Horton has given them. The team is hoping that Friday’s outing was just the tip of the iceberg.

The post Chicago Cubs rookie pitcher showcases elite chops, wants all the smoke appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs suffered a devastating blow in early May, when lefty co-ace Shota Imanaga was placed on the injured list due to a left hamstring strain.

The horrible news came just over a month after the team lost their other lefty co-ace Justin Steele for the season due to an elbow injury that required surgery.

The loss of Imanaga was especially frustrating since there seemed to be no firm time frame for his return. Recovery from hamstring injuries, in general, tends to be unpredictable. But the fact that the 31-year-old has never suffered from a lower-body injury has contributed to the uncertainty when it comes to a timeline for return.

So, the Cubs and the Japanese starter have been taking things day by day. A 25-pitch bullpen session on May 28 led to subsequent work. On June 3, it was reported that Imanaga had flown to Arizona to face live batters at the Cubs’ training complex.

Shota Imanaga’s First Rehab Outing

On Monday, the much-needed rotation asset finally pitched in an actual game situation– and it reportedly went quite well.

Pitching for the Arizona Complex League (ACL) Cubs in a game against the ACL Rockies, SI.com reports that Imanaga worked two full innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four. By accounting of the stats, it was a commanding performance in 106-degree Arizona weather and with lots of underlying uncertainty mixed up with the stress of facing his first live hitters in over a month. No pitch count was released.

The next step, of course, is to do this all over again, likely upping the pitch count a bit, before possibly moving on to an actual minor league rehab stint. Obviously, though, this depends on how Imanaga feels and how the Cubs feel about his advancement. More and more, it’s looking like manager Craig Counsell’s mid-May assessment of a major league return “well into June” will be right on the money.

But we ARE ten days into June, as of this writing, so that’s not entirely awful news.

The Chicago Cubs Starting Rotation Balancing Act

To say that the Cubs need Imanaga is an understatement. Even with the team sitting somewhat comfortably atop the NL Central Division and the starting pitching holding together admirably well, the strains of a depleted front of rotation are starting to be felt. As the season goes on and the pressure of a playoff race amps up, the team won’t be able to skate by on a strong offense and a merely competent everything else.

Offseason free agent acquisition Matthew Boyd and Jameson Taillon have picked up the front-of-rotation slack in Imanaga’s absence. Free agent signee Colin Rea has, mostly, done well in his role as a fill-in starter. Top pitching prospect Cade Horton is clearly a work in progress, but he’s also performed well enough since his big league call-up in early May. Sophomore Ben Brown, meanwhile, has put together a pair of impressive outings after a wildly inconsistent beginning to the season.

Aggressive Trade-Minded Cubs?

Maintaining a league-competitive rotation in the face of losing their two aces (and fifth starter Javier Assad before the season began) has been an impressive balancing for Counsell and his staff. But it’s a balancing act nonetheless.

It’s widely believed that the Cubs will be very aggressive in looking for pitching before the trade deadline and potential high-end trade targets have already been mentioned.

Getting Imanaga back, though, would be a huge playoff drive boost alongside whoever they can pick up in a swap.

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The Chicago Cubs are riding high right now, carried to a somewhat comfortable first-place spot in the NL Central Division by their league-best offense.

Their formerly shaky bullpen has also solidified in recent weeks, making it one of the most reliable relief corps in baseball at the moment.

The live-or-die aspect of the team, though, may be its starting pitching.

The Cubs lost their ace Justin Steele to an elbow injury back in early April, and they won’t have him back until May-June of next year, at the earliest. Then, they lost co-ace lefty Shota Imanaga to a hamstring injury in early May. And, before all of that, Javier Assad was lost due to an oblique issue.

For those keeping tabs, that makes 60% of their starting rotation lost for all, or most, of the season thus far.

The Chicago Cubs’ Starting Rotation Has Held Together, Somewhat

Despite the losses and setbacks, the Cubs’ rotation has actually held together quite well. With Jameson Taillon and free agent acquisition Matthew Boyd leading the way, along with veteran Colin Rea, sophomore Ben Brown, and top pitching prospect Cade Horton, the staff has been outstanding in spots and iffy in others. Overall, though, they’ve been good enough not to be a liability.

But “good enough to not be a liability” won’t be good enough in the postseason or even in the late-season drive to make postseason play. The Cubs need starting pitching.

The big hope among fans is that the front office will pull off some big deal by trade deadline, bringing over a stud top-of-rotation starter for the playoff race.

The Realities Of The Deadline Trade Market

But the trade market looks like it will be pretty slim this year, especially when it comes to high-end starters. Of the few who may be available, some, like Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and Arizona’s Zac Gallen, are performing poorly and may not be desirable fits because of it. The remaining starters will require a hefty haul in return, as it will most definitely be a seller’s market.

And given that the Cubs have not been generally known for big, bold in-season trades, the team may find itself on the losing end of trade bidding wars.

So, what does that mean for Chicago’s push to bring in an ace-level starting pitcher?

They may NOT get one, at least not from the outside.

The Cubs May Have To Look Internally For Second-Half Pitching Help

The Cubs may have to settle for returning assets to be their rotation-fortifying additions. Notably, Imanaga.

According to Andy Martinez of Marquee Sports Network, Imanaga has flown to Arizona to face live hitters. This news comes after the news that the Japanese star had pitched back-to-back bullpen sessions without discomfort.

These are positive updates when it comes to Imanaga’s return and, with a short rehab stint in Iowa, it means that they could get him back at full strength somewhere around the all-star break.

The progress of Assad is a bit hazier, with the last word being that he had started playing catch about a week ago. Optimistically, the Cubs could hope to have him back in some capacity by late summer, just in time to help eat some innings in long relief and/or possibly spot start.

If the high-end trade market proves to be too unfriendly, the team may have to settle on a second-tier pitching addition or two for the sake of depth and to give manager Craig Counsell flexibility and maneuverability to make the most with what he has.

More and more, it appears that this might be the path the Cubs will have to take as the real playoff race takes shape. For now, everyone will just cross their fingers that Imanaga gets back, Assad can contribute something, and that no other pitchers go down to injury.

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The Chicago Cubs have shined so far in 2025, carried by its stellar and diversified offense. But the team is definitely not without its issues.

The bullpen, for example, has been wildly inconsistent at times and is still lacking a true shutdown closer.

The starting rotation, meanwhile, has taken a battering. Ace starter Justin Steele is out for the season after elbow surgery. Co-ace Shota Imanaga is out with a tricky and unpredictable hamstring injury. Javier Assad is out until at least mid-season with oblique issues.

Big Losses In The Chicago Cubs Rotation

For those keeping track, this means that the Cubs are currently without 60% of their projected 2025 starting rotation.

To their credit, though, the starting corps has mostly held tough, anchored by veteran free agent acquisitions Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea. Jameson Taillon has been inconsistent at times, but seems to be turning things around.

But nobody believes that the Cubs can be a serious contender for a deep playoff run with the five starters they have right now. Specifically, with Ben Brown and rookie Cade Horton making up the back 40% of the rotation.

Some of those concerns would be resolved if/when Imanaga returns to the rotation and can stay healthy, although that return date keeps getting pushed back.

From Marquee Sports Network’s Taylor McGregor:

“Per Craig Counsell, Cubs Shota Imanaga will begin throwing off a mound towards the end of next week. He said his return will be ‘well into June.’”

Decisions Will Have To Be Made

The uncertainty is definitely not good news for the team, but the Japanese lefty should be back at some point. But even without his return, decisions have to be made about the back end of the rotation as the team will look to make a trade for a starting pitcher at some point before the trade deadline.

Cubs’ top pitching prospect, the 23-year-old Horton will likely get the benefit of every doubt when it comes to keeping his rotation gig.

Brown, on the other hand, looks to be the man in the proverbial hot seat.

The 25-year-old righty has been all over the place this season and has only pitched past 5.1 innings twice this year. His hefty 5.44 ERA serves as a testament to his inability to deliver a string of quality starts.

Ben Brown: On The Hot Seat?

Many are wondering aloud whether Brown’s days as a starter– especially in this potential pennant run– are done as soon as either Imanaga gets back or a trade gets made.

Per MLB Insider Bruce Levine on 670 The Score:

“Brown has the great fastball, a wonderful knuckle curve that he usually gets over for a strike…but…Can you live with a guy who sometimes gives you six innings, and other times it’s 3 2/3, four innings and 90 pitches? Can you live with that? Is the better version of Ben Brown in the back end of the bullpen helping you close out games, maybe two to three times a week, throwing a couple of innings?

…You’re going to need more starting pitching rather than less. So, I don’t know if there’s any answers in the minor leagues. I don’t know if [Jordan] Wicks is going to be part of that equation at all.”

In need of starting pitching, the Cubs’ focus has to fall on quality over quantity. And, although Brown’s shown flashes of brilliance this season (and last season, before it was shut down in June due to a neck injury), the team needs consistency and it needs results.

Brown will have a handful of starts to prove his worth, starting with one this Sunday against the divisional rival Cincinnati Reds. If he can’t turn heads and change minds, his rest-of-season role may be as a big arm coming out of the bullpen.

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The Chicago Cubs will have to make a big trade by this year’s trade deadline.

The team needs starting pitching to replace the lost-for-the-season Justin Steele and secure a rotation currently missing Shota Imanaga and Javier Assad. They also need help for a bullpen that has been wildly inconsistent and is currently lacking a true shutdown closer.

On the back burner is a possible need for a third baseman if top prospect Matt Shaw doesn’t prove himself major league-ready in his second stint in the bigs.

The reality is that the Cubs may not get everything they need to absolutely secure a deep playoff run, but they WILL have to mortgage a good piece of their future to get ALMOST there. The questions are how much will they have to barter away and who will be the prospects sent to another organization.

Which Chicago Cubs Top Prospect Will Be Traded?

Looking at the Cubs’ top 5 prospects, their no. 1 and no. 2– Matt Shaw and Cade Horton– are already in the majors, with expectations that they’ll contribute to the team’s postseason drive. So, that leaves outfielder Owen Caissie (no. 3), catcher/first baseman Moises Ballesteros (no. 4), and outfielder Kevin Alcantara (no. 5) as the organization’s most attractive trade bait.

And, of the three Cubs top prospects still in the minors, it’s looking like Alcantara will be the most likely to go.

With the Chicago outfield already set at all three positions, the 22-year-old’s only path to the majors is as a fourth outfielder or as an emergency replacement in case of multiple injuries.

There is already some suggestion that Alcantara is beginning to stagnate as a prospect because of that lack of path to a big league gig. Baseball America recently dropped the young asset from their Top 100 prospects list, pointing to that apparent stagnation.

The Good And Bad Of Kevin Alcantara

Alcantara has not had a great year for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs so far, hitting just .248 as of this writing with 5 home runs and a strikeout rate of over 33%. But he is second on the team with 25 RBIs and is coming off a 2-home run game on Wednesday, with 3 home runs hit in the last 4 games.

The native of the Dominican Republic has great tools, though, and a history of success. He’s also young enough to be a work in progress with a high ceiling.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report recently named Alcantara the Cub most likely to be dealt at the trade deadline.

Per Miller:

“The Chicago Cubs are probably going to be the most aggressive suitor of Miami’s Sandy Alcantara. Justin Steele is done for the year, and neither Ben Brown nor Jameson Taillon is thriving in the rotation. [Though, Taillon did smoke the Marlins on Tuesday.] If and when Colin Rea comes back to earth, they could be mashing the proverbial panic button.

It’s going to take at least one (perhaps more than one) top 100 prospect to get the Marlins to part with Alcantara, but wouldn’t it be fun if that top prospect had the same last name?

Kevin Alcántara had a very brief, 1-for-10 cup of coffee in the majors at the end of last season, and has been scuffling a bit this year at Triple-A Iowa. The 22-year-old outfielder is dripping with potential, though, tallying at least 13 home runs and 13 steals in each of the past three years.

They’d surely rather not part with him, with Kyle Tucker slated for free agency this winter while both Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ are headed there after next season, too. But doing something major about this rotation is a borderline must.”

Which Outfield Prospect?

Potential trade partners looking for a young outfield prospect could also target Caissie, but it would just depend on what that team needs and wants for their organization. Alcantara is more “toolsy” and athletic, while the 22-year-old Caissie is more of a corner outfield power hitter.

Either way, it’s probably going to cost the Cubs multiple top prospects to land the player or two they need to round out their roster. It seems like a foregone conclusion that Alcantara will be one of them.

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Most of the attention on the Chicago Cubs farm system has gone to the the Triple-A, but there are plenty of solid prospects that aren’t on that team in their pool. The Iowa Cubs have a handful of the organization’s top prospects, and three of them have even made their big league debuts in 2025.

Matt Shaw began the campaign as the team’s starting third baseman, but only last 18 games before being sent back to Iowa to work on his swing. He is back with the Cubs now and is already thriving at the plate in the team’s road series against the Marlins.

Cade Horton and Moises Ballesteros have had brief stints with Chicago to begin their big league careers as well. Horton has taken the rotation spot of an injured Shota Imanaga, and Ballesteros was up for a week while Ian Happ was dealing with an oblique issue that required him to head on the IL. A highly regarded hitting prospect in High-A has been tearing the cover off the baseball so far this season, and plenty of people have taken notice.

Chicago Cubs’ prospect Jefferson Rojas has been red-hot in May

Jefferson Rojas has logged just over 900 career minor league at-bats since joining the Cubs’ system in 2022. The shortstop spent all of 2024 in High-A South Bend, which is where has has begun his 2025 campaign. Rojas is slashing .284/.388/.477  for a .865 OPS in 29 games and 109 at-bats. He has also driven in 15 runs while hitting four homers this season.

The month of May has been kind to Rojas, as he has been unreal in 16 games. In his 60 at-bats this month, Rojas is slashing .350/.437/.617 for a 1.054 OPS in the Midwest League. Three of his four home runs this year have come in May, and he has driven in 12 as well in this stretch.

Jefferson Rojas could be a big part of the Chicago Cubs’ future

Rojas has improved each year in the Cubs’ system at the plate, and his defense is must-see TV at all times. The 20-year-old still has a little ways to go before he is near the big league level, but his consistent success in High-A should put him on the radar to be apart of the organization’s long term plans. While the franchise is in win-now mode, Rojas might want to be a guy they consider keeping for the long haul, along with Ballesteros and others.

Even though Dansby Swanson still has four more years under contract after 2025, there is no saying that Rojas can’t be the next man up at the shortstop position when Swanson’s time with the team comes to a close. Rojas has the makings of a really good pro, and the front office might look to keep him around down the road.

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The Chicago Cubs have dealt with a couple of injuries so far this season, which has allowed for some of the organization’s top prospects to make their big league debuts. Matt Shaw began the season with the team before being sent down to Triple-A after 18 rough games at the plate. He returned to the big leagues on Monday night against the Marlins and collected a two-hit game, proving that his time in Iowa was much needed.

With Shota Imanaga going down with a hamstring strain, Cade Horton was promoted to take his spot in the rotation. The right-hander gave up three runs in 5.0 innings of work in his first career start against the White Sox last Friday, and the hope is that he can find a way to stick around for a long time.

The Cubs announced Tuesday morning that an everyday bat will be returning to the lineup for the second game of the Marlins’ series, with another young prospect being sent back to Iowa in the corresponding move.

Chicago Cubs activate Ian Happ off the IL

Happ will be back in action Tuesday night after being out with a left oblique strain. The former first-round draft choice of the organization is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games this season as the team’s leadoff man. He has also clubbed out three homers and driven in 16 runs so far in 2025. While the power numbers haven’t been there as much for Happ so far this season, he was still the tone-setter in Chicago’s order and he has been missed over the past week.

Moises Ballesteros will head down to Triple-A as the corresponding move. The 21-year-old made his bug league debut last week and collected three hits in 16 at-bats in his short stay with the team. Ballesteros looked more comfortable in the box as each game went along, and there is no doubt he will be back soon enough.

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The Chicago Cubs’ hand was forced when they called up top pitching prospect Cade Horton.

Justin Steele had been lost for the season, sidelined by elbow surgery. Shota Imanaga was down with a hamstring injury, with no clear return date in sight. Javier Assad had been transferred to the 60-day IL with his ongoing oblique issues.

The Cubs rotation had done a great job of staying stable and functioning, led by free agent acquisitions Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea. But there was zero question that the team needed another quality arm to fill out the rotation.

And while Chicago’s starting pitching needs grew, the 23-year-old Horton was killing it in Triple-A Iowa, posting a 1.24 ERA in six starts while striking out nearly a third of all batters faced.

Ready Or Not, Here He Comes

Ideal timing or not, the move to bring Horton up to the majors had to be made.

He made his debut May 10 in New York, against the hard-hitting Mets. In an effort to swerve around the team’s heavy artillery, the decision was made to not start him. He did, however, pitch 4 innings in most inhospitable territory, allowing 3 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 5.

His first actual start would come on the 16th against the Chicago White Sox in what would be a 13-3 rout in favor of the North Siders in the swirling winds of Wrigley Field. He would pitch 5 innings this time out, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits with 2 strike outs.

So Far, So Good For Cade Horton

All in all, Horton’s first major league start– and second win– went well. In difficult circumstances, he stepped up and kept his composure, bent by situations at times, but never broken. In 11 major league innings, he’s also yet to walk anyone.

When asked about Horton’s performance, specifically about the young talent aggressively attacking the strike zone, Cubs manager Craig Counsell saw it as a definite positive.

“That’s a good sign,” Counsell told media at the post-game press conference. “On a day like today, you want to make team earn everything…You’re gonna give up some runs, but you pitch like that and you make them earn it.”

Horton’s teammates were similarly impressed.

“His stuff was loud,” said center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who had 6 RBIs in the one-sided game. “He did an absolutely outstanding job of minimizing any sort of damage. I hope he liked his first taste of Wrigley. He’s going to do this for a long time.”

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson shared Crow-Armstrong’s assessment.

“The one thing that really, really impressed me was just his mound presence in New York,” Swanson told reporters, referring back to Horton’s showing against the Mets. “Anyone can dive into the stuff and say, ‘Oh, it’s really good.’ The velocity’s back up. The breaking ball’s always been really good. You can measure that kind of stuff.

“But there’s something about his presence on the mound. The game never felt fast for him. He seemed to want the moments. Those are the things that you really want and need to see. He was obviously pretty locked in for that. I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

Chicago Cubs Drafted Character

Horton was the Cubs’ first round draft pick in 2022, raising some eyebrows because, at the time, he wasn’t too far removed from the 2021 Tommy John surgery he had as a college freshman in Oklahoma. Last season, he was shut down in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder.

Despite limited innings in pro ball, Horton was regarded as the top pitching prospect in the Cubs organization and the no. 35 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB.com, at the time of his call-up.

Prior to Friday’s start, Counsell affirmed Horton’s character while also acknowledging that the young man is still a work in progress.

“He’s a really good competitor,” Counsell told media. “He wants to be great. Those are good attributes…He’s been through some adversity, despite being this highly thought of prospect. He went through some big adversity last year and I think that’s a good thing. Growth comes from those places. But he’s still new at this job, at being a professional baseball player and you have to realize that, you have to acknowledge that…There’s a lot of room for growth here, despite having a lot of success.”

Ready or not, the future is now for Horton.

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Plenty of eyes have remained on the Iowa Cubs early this season despite the Chicago Cubs getting out to a hot start in their pursuit of the NL Central crown. The team’s highly-rated farm system is what has helped them take steps forward so far this season, and having an eye on the multiple top prospects in Triple-A makes sense for depth purposes. The front office has already had to call up two big time young players from the I-Cubs in Cade Horton and Moises Ballesteros.

The organization’s top prospect started the season at the big league level, but didn’t stick around for too long. Since returning to Triple-A, he has been on a tear and could be making his way back to Chicago very soon.

Matt Shaw is making his case to return to the Chicago Cubs

Shaw led the charge in the I-Cubs’ comeback victory in game two of their doubleheader yesterday. The 2023 first-round draft choice led the game off with a homer and delivered a walk-off long ball to seal the deal. No MLB player has accomplished this feat since 2010, and Shaw did so while trying to prove that he belongs in the show.

In his 22 games with Iowa this year, Shaw is slashing .284/.408/.519, giving him a .927 OPS in 98 at-bats. The two homers he clubbed out yesterday make up half of the round-trippers he has in Triple-A, and he has driven in 11 runs as well.

The 23-year-old has struggled mightily at the plate to begin his big league career as he has hit .172 with a .535 OPS in 18 games this season. He has one homer and three runs driven in and has struck out 18 times in 58 at-bats.

The Chicago Cubs need Matt Shaw to step-up for multiple reasons

With how poorly the third base position has been handled since Shaw’s demotion, the Cubs could use any help they can get at the hot corner. Shaw has always been the long term plan at third base, and the front office didn’t want him to lose any more confidence at the dish early on in his big league career. The bat was his primary issue in his first 18 MLB games, and it appears he has worked on some things in his short stint with Iowa.

If the Cubs can have Shaw be a consistent regular option at third base, it would help them massively at the trade deadline. This would allow for the organization to focus on acquiring pitching only at the end of the summer, to help them pick up the depth that they have lost in the rotation and bullpen early on in 2025.

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The Chicago Cubs are set to hand the ball off to one of their most electric young arms on Friday for what will be his first career start in the big leagues. After impressing with his stuff during his MLB debut, Cade Horton will be taking the next step in starting and looking to carry momentum into what looks like an easier part of the team’s schedule.

Cade Horton impressed during his MLB debut, but came out of the bullpen

Last Saturday, in Queens, New York at Citi Field and on National TV, Horton made his MLB debut by following opener Brad Keller. Horton went on to pitch four innings, struck out five, escaped a few jams, and gave up three earned runs following a mistake pitch to Brett Baty. Horton was credited with the win after all was said and done.

The Chicago Cubs are handing the ball off to Cade Horton at Wrigley Field for his first career start

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Injuries have hit the Chicago Cubs hard so far this season, yet they remain in first place entering the series finale against the Marlins on Wednesday night. Teams looking to chase after the pennant every year deal with injuries to some degree, and the Cubs have been prepared for those early on in 2025. Chicago had a handful of their top prospects at Triple-A entering the season, and the front office has even had to bring up a couple of them to help the club out over the last week.

Justin Steele was the first major domino in the Cubs’ early-season injury chain a month ago. The left-hander was ruled out for the season and underwent left elbow surgery in hopes to return at some point toward the beginning of the 2026 campaign.

Shota Imanaga and Ian Happ are the two important players on the IL for Chicago right now. Imanaga left his start in Milwaukee on May 4 and is expected to miss the rest of the month due to a strained hamstring. Happ tweaked his oblique over the weekend in the opening game of the Mets’ series. He missed the final two games of the set and was placed on the IL following Monday’s win over the Marlins.

Ian Happ is “ramping up activity” after being placed on the IL

Craig Counsell told the media before Monday’s series opener that Happ starting “ramping up activity”, but the organization is being cautious with his rehab. Oblique injuries are nothing to mess around with, as a poor rehab of the issue could lead to a longer IL stint for Happ later on in the season. The club called up highly regarded prospect Moises Ballesteros with Happ being out for the next week or so.

The plan is for Ballesteros to continue to be the team’s designated hitter, and for Seiya Suzuki to play left field until their lead off man returns. Happ is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games. He has also collected three homers and has driven in 16 runs so far this year.

The Chicago Cubs had Shota Imanaga play catch on Monday

Similar to Happ getting going to an extent on Monday, Imanaga played catch in the outfield upon the team’s first game back at Wrigley Field after being away for the weekend. The southpaw’s hamstring issue is similar to what Steele dealt with at the beginning of the 2024 season, so not expecting him to be back on a big league mound until June is completely reasonable.

Veterans like Colin Rea have stepped up in Imanaga’s absence. The organization’s top pitching prospect, Cade Horton could be making his first career start this weekend against the White Sox in Imanaga’s turn in the rotation. Imanaga has been dealing so far this season, as he currently holds a 2.82 ERA to pair with his 1.10 WHIP in eight starts. The lefty has tossed in 44.2 innings so far this season and has a 3-2 record.

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Despite a rough past week for the Chicago Cubs, their starting pitching remained consistent like it has been all season long through early-May. Their rotation was the strongest part of their squad in 2024, but injuries have made that tough to follow this spring. Justin Steele went down for the season in mid-April and Shota Imanaga strained his hamstring in Milwaukee over a week ago, so depth has become an issue for the unit. The Cubs were able to take the opening game of the San Francisco series last Monday, which was the first of just two games that they won in that six-game stretch.

Chicago followed up their massive series opening victory by dropping three straight contests for the first time all season. It’s impressive that this was the first time that the team had done this in 2025, as they had a gauntlet that they needed to complete to begin the campaign. Out of there first 29 games of the year, 20 of the Cubs’ battles came against the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks. They managed to stay above .500 in these games, as they went 11-9.

After Sunday’s loss at Citi Field, one the club’s more consistent starters this season spoke on how important it is for the rotation to take care of business this year.

Matthew Boyd stresses Chicago Cubs’ starters going deep into games

Following his start in the series finale against the Mets, Matthew Boyd spoke to the media about the importance of the current rotation going as deep into games as possible.

“That’s our job as a starter, it’s always important,” Boyd said. “The bullpen’s been amazing for us, and it doesn’t change what’s been happening. The bullpen’s been money for us and they’ve been doing a lot for us down there.”

The bullpen has received plenty of criticism so far this year after not being able to hold onto a handful of leads. While guys like Porter Hodge have been relatively consistent, there are still way more questions than answers in the stable as the summer nears. Boyd was sharp once again on Sunday, as he allowed just two runs in six innings for the second straight start. He now has a 3-2 record with a 2.78 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 45.1 innings tossed this year.

The Chicago Cubs’ could use some starting pitching depth

Even though Imanaga could be back around the beginning of June, the Cubs front office could look to add some depth in the rotation down the stretch. Names like Brad Keller and Sandy Alcantara have been floated around on the rumor mill, and either would be great additions to the current unit.

Alcantara has had a rough start to the 2025 campaign, so his price could be much more reasonable for Chicago to make a solid offer on now compared to what it would have been at the beginning of the year. Keller has been the definition of consistent for the Pirates since the 2021 season and has kept a clean bill of health in the process, making him another suitable candidate for the front office to pursue.

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The Chicago Cubs closed out there past week with a 2-4 record in their two separate three game sets that they played in. They began the week at home against the Giants and the series began with plenty of promise for the group that entered the week with a comfortable lead in the NL Central. The offense came to play in their first game of the season against San Francisco, as they clubbed out a couple of home runs and took their walks in a five-run sixth frame that carried them to victory.

The Cubs got a huge victory in the second game of the Mets’ series over the weekend where top pitching prospect, Cade Horton, made his big league debut. However, the group couldn’t capture the series win at Citi Field, as they fell once again on a Sunday in this season. The lineup saw some movement in the final two games of this series, as one of their key cogs was out due to injury.

Craig Counsell confirms that Ian Happ will still bat leadoff

Despite Ian Happ missing a couple of games due to injury, manager Craig Counsell assured the media that the veteran would not lose his spot as the leadoff man in the order when he returns. Amid a breakout season, Pete Crow-Armstrong was called upon to step up and take Happ’s place as the leadoff man in the final two games of the Mets series. The 23-year-old clubbed out his 10th home run of the season on Sunday in Chicago’s 6-2 loss and showed some promise in his new temporary role in the lineup.

Even though fans have been wanting Crow-Armstrong to bat leadoff for quite some time, it is clear that Happ is the perfect tone setter for this club. The former first-round draft choice of the organization is slashing .269/.364/.381 with a .745 OPS in 39 games. He also slugged out three homers and has driven in 16 runs so far in 2025.

The Chicago Cubs outfield has been one of the best in baseball

Kyle Tucker and Crow-Armstrong have been fun to watch this season, and Happ playing up to his ceiling when he returns from this day-to-day oblique injury would be the cherry on top. Tucker has been everything the Cubs hoped he could have been and more, as he is already proving to be one of the best hitters in baseball so far this season.

Crow-Armstrong rightfully earned the nod to fill in for Happ in the leadoff role, as his bat exploding early on in the campaign has been the best part of Chicago’s season. The speedy center fielder currently leads the team in home runs with 10 and has driven in 28 while making noise on the bath paths this year. Crow-Armstrong could be the x-factor that this team needs in their pursuit of the NL pennant, and he has earned himself a lot of money in the process.

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Cade Horton, the Chicago Cubs top pitching prospect, made his MLB debut on Saturday night against the New York Mets. The former first round pick followed opener Brad Keller and ended up with a line consisting of four innings pitched, four hits, five strikeouts, and three earned runs. To make things better, the team got a win as they held on to a 6-5 victory.

Cade Horton made his mark during a milestone filled MLB debut

During his MLB debut, Horton was able to check several boxes of firsts. On a Nationally televised game, his first career strikeout came against Brandon Nimmo, the first batter he faced as Horton retired him looking on a fastball that was beautifully painted on the outside corner.

Cade Horton strikes out the first batter in his Major League debut

(via @MLBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/z2tmLseSUN

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) May 10, 2025

During his second inning of work, Horton started off with a strikeout, but then got into his first jam as he beaned catcher Francisco Alvarez and Tyrone Taylor reached on a catcher’s interference. He managed to escape this situation without allowing a run by getting Mets stars Francisco Lindor to fly out and Juan Soto to ground out.

In the fifth, Horton allowed his first hit of the game as Pete Alonso singled. He allowed another base knock to Mark Vientos and eventually found himself in a two out, two runners on base situation with Brett Baty up to the plate.  Baty proceeded to hit a home run off a sweeper to make it a one run game.

After being relieved of pitching duties in the sixth inning, the Cubs ended up holding onto a narrow victory against the Mets. Even though Horton was not on the bump for what could have been his first career start, he was credited with the win.

Traffic, atmosphere, and family

When asked about the memorable day, there were three specific things that Horton mentioned that he would remember. First off, his bus got stuck in traffic and he showed up to the ball park an hour later than he would have liked. Secondly, he mentioned the atmosphere of Citi Field and a FOX broadcasted game. Lastly, he was grateful for his family that was able to attend.

“Just kind of surreal as parents. It’s a lifelong dream for him” @Ken_Rosenthal spoke with @Cubs top pitching prospect Cade Horton’s parents as they watched their son make his MLB debut pic.twitter.com/ioMhUV1oCh

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 11, 2025

Horton’s MLB debut may not have been flawless, but it was a solid first step for the Cubs’ top pitching prospect. Flashing his strikeout stuff, that included an unexpected changeup to Juan Soto, and showing his poise on the mound, Horton showed a glimpse of his potential. As he settled into the big-league level, the hope is that this year he can fill the void left by several injuries to starting pitchers, including Javier Assad, Justin Steele, and Shota Imanaga.

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The Chicago Cubs enter Saturday night’s matchup with the New York Mets on a three-game losing streak. The Cubs have a 22-17 record and are two games up on the St. Louis Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.

Chicago lost the last two of its three-game series against the San Francisco Giants earlier in the week at Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost Friday night’s matchup 7-2 to the Mets in front of 41,243 fans at Citi Field.

Chicago manager Craig Counsell had delayed naming a starting pitcher for Saturday’s matchup until his postgame presser on Friday night. The Cubs were unsure who would replace Shota Imanaga, on the 15-day injured list for a mild hamstring strain, earlier in the week.

Chicago Cubs name Brade Keller the starter over Cade Horton

Despite calling up rookie Cade Horton before the series, Counsell named right-handed relief pitcher Brad Keller as the starter for Saturday night. Horton will be active, but the Cubs plan to treat Saturday like a bullpen game.

Keller has appeared in 15 games for the Cubs this season. He’s posted a 3.78 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched. The right-handed pitcher has made no starts this season.

Horton posted a 1.24 ERA in six appearances in Iowa.

Cubs accused by fans of punting on series

Fans on social media felt like Counsell was punting on Saturday’s game by making it a bullpen game and being cautious with Horton.

“So you’re saying don’t tune in. Got it,” wrote a fan.

“Yeah we are getting swept. This team sucks every May,” posted another.

“sooo they dont care about winning tomorrow. Cooool,” argued a fan.

“Ok, L and check back Sunday. Thanks for the day off,” believes a poster.

“And there goes the series,” wrote a fan.

“Swept . Injuries are mounting up. Bats won’t be able to out hit NYM,” argued another.

For More Chicago Sports:

Follow me on Twitter at @JordanSig, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Jordan Sigler via email at jordanmsigler@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks.

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The Chicago Cubs are looking for answers in their starting rotation, which has been impacted by injury. With Javier Assad, Justin Steele, and Shota Imanaga on the injured list, the team has been faced with a tough decision from a pitching stand point as they look to fill the void left by the most recent injury to Imanaga.

This weekend against the New York Mets, the Cubs have activated top prospect Cade Horton, but are not giving him the start on Saturday. Rather, Brad Keller will be on the bump to begin the game, with the rest of the pitchers to be determined after that.

Whether it’s a strategic decision or genuine uncertainty, reporter Taylor McGregor noted that manager Craig Counsell has yet to confirm whether Horton will follow Keller. There’s even a possibility Horton won’t pitch on Saturday at all, meaning his MLB debut could be delayed until Sunday, or possibly beyond.

Buzz is building around Chicago Cubs prospect Cade Horton making his MLB debut

Even though we don’t know when Horton will make his MLB debut, it’s likely to come sometime this weekend against the Mets.  Pitcher Jameson Taillon told Marquee Sports Network, “He’s definitely earned this. He’s got a great pitch package, great stuff, great work ethic, he’s a great dude. I think everyone’s excited to see him.”

Getting to know Cade Horton

23 year old Horton was selected seventh overall by Chicago during the 2022 MLB Draft. The University of Oklahoma product has excelled professionally, but missed most of last season due to a LAT strain. His fastball operates in the mid 90’s, tops out around 98 MPH, and he mixes in curveballs, sliders, and changeups.

Despite the Cubs weighing the timing of Cade Horton’s MLB debut, he will be a big part of their plans going forward

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On Friday, the Chicago Cubs made a “tough” decision to call up rookie pitcher Cade Horton from Iowa before their three-game series against the New York Mets starting on Friday. The Cubs needed an extra arm after they placed starting pitcher Shota Imanaga on the 15-day injured list for a mild hamstring strain.

With an ERA of 1.24 in six outings, Horton appeared as the best option for Chicago to call up to the majors from Triple-A. It was assumed Horton would take over Imanaga’s role as the starting pitcher for Saturday night’s game against the Mets, but Jon Morosi of MLB Network suggested the Cubs might have a different plan this weekend.

The Chicago Cubs have a decision to make on Cade Horton

Morosi is worried about Horton’s walk rate in Iowa this season. He’s recorded 33 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29 innings pitched in 2025. Morosi told 670 The Score on Thursday that Cubs manager Craig Counsell might start another pitcher and bring in Horton to do the “bulk” of the pitching later in the contest.

“I’m a little little concerned about the number of walks, and I think that’s going to be the big question,” Morosi said. “The Mets are now a lineup that really grinds at-bats very well. And so what I’ll be curious to see, and this is something I’ve been talking to people about during the course of the day, the Cubs might actually have him pitch Saturday, but not start.

“That’s an important distinction, where they may actually use an opener first before Horton comes into the game as the ‘bulk guy, ‘ quote, unquote.

“Is that an easier way to get into a game in New York?  It’s a tough place to make your debut against one of the better teams in all a Major League Baseball, so I do think there may be some strategy involved for Craig Counsell and how they’re going to potentially work Horton into that game.”

.@jonmorosi is high on Cubs right-hander Cade Horton but is a little concerned about his walk rate as a tough matchup against the Mets looms this weekend. pic.twitter.com/ul8uHXcVn9

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) May 8, 2025

As of Friday morning, the Cubs have not announced a starter for Saturday’s game.

The Mets will have right-handed pitcher Tylor Megill on the mound. He has a 3-2 record and an ERA of 2.50. He’s tied for the 27th-most strkeouts with 45 strikeouts.

For More Chicago Sports:

Follow me on Twitter at @JordanSig, and follow us @ChiCitySports23. You can also reach out to Jordan Sigler via email at jordanmsigler@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Chicago sports, click here! Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks.

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The Chicago Cubs had to discuss making a difficult decision before their three-game series against the New York Mets this weekend. Following a two-game slide to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he still needed to pencil in a starting pitcher for Saturday.

Shota Imanaga would have been Chicago’s starting pitcher for Saturday. However, he was placed on the injured list this week due to a hamstring injury he suffered during Sunday night’s 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

One potential solution for the Cubs was Cade Horton. The No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft has a 1.24 ERA in his six starts in Triple-A in 2025.

Chicago Cubs make their decision on Cade Horton

Per Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register, the Cubs are calling up Horton before their series against the Mets.

“The way Iowa Cubs pitcher Cade Horton has been throwing, it seemed like only a matter of time before he got his shot to pitch in the big leagues,” Burch wrote. The time appears to have arrived. Horton, following a strong start to the season, is expected to join the Chicago Cubs for their road trip to New York this weekend, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told the Register.

“The 23-year-old hard-throwing right-hander has been dominant with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with a 1.24 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 33 strikeouts across 29 innings.”

The Cubs’ “toughest” decision of 2025

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune explained why the decision to call up Horton was difficult. The Cubs are asking him to make an early start in the majors. Sullivan thinks it’s the “toughest” decision Chicago will make this season.

“It makes perfect sense to keep Horton in Iowa a while longer to continue his development after he missed most of 2024 with a shoulder injury,” Sullivan wrote. “But this is not a perfect world.

“Having already shown a sense of urgency with his previous roster moves, bringing Horton up in early May to replace the injured Shota Imanaga on Saturday against the New York Mets would be in line with Hoyer’s early-season aggressiveness in what could be a make-or-break season for the longtime Cubs executive.

New York will be a tough challenge for Horton. The Mets are in first place in the NL East with a 24-14 record.  New York is tied with the Miami Marlins for the best batting average and are tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the ninth-most runs in 2025.

Hope he’s ready.

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The Chicago Cubs (22-16) are feeling a crunch on Thursday, coming off a series where the San Francisco Giants stole two of three games at Wrigley Field this week. The Cubs are traveling to play a 24-14 New York Mets team in first place in the NL East for a three-game series starting on Friday.

Chicago will be without Shota Imanaga for Saturday’s matchup after he was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier this week for a mild hamstring strain he suffered in the Cubs’ 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

The Chicago Cubs are unsure for Saturday

During his postgame press conference on Wednesday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell admitted the team did not have a starting pitcher penciled in for Saturday. He said Chicago would discuss how to attack their rotation problem, which includes Justin Steele being out for the season due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

One of the potential remedies for the Cubs is to call up Cade Horton from Iowa. Horton has been solid in Triple-A, posting an ERA of 1.24 in six outings.

Cubs’ decision on Cade Horton the “toughest” of the season

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune believes the Cubs are deciding whether to call up Horting for their series against the Mets and called the decision Chicago’s “toughest” of the season.

“It makes perfect sense to keep Horton in Iowa a while longer to continue his development after he missed most of 2024 with a shoulder injury,” Sullivan wrote. “But this is not a perfect world. Having already shown a sense of urgency with his previous roster moves, bringing Horton up in early May to replace the injured Shota Imanaga on Saturday against the New York Mets would be in line with Hoyer’s early-season aggressiveness in what could be a make-or-break season for the longtime Cubs executive.

“Cubs fans obviously want to see Horton, perhaps the organization’s most highly touted pitching prospect since Mark Prior made his debut in 2002. Hoyer and manager Craig Counsell seem reluctant to show their cards, making the decision seem that much more important.”

Horton, a right-handed pitcher from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was drafted by the Cubs as the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft. At 23, he’s shown promise for the Cubs in Triple-A.

Asking Horton to come in and fill Imanaga’s shoes on the road against the Mets would be an enormous ask from the front office and coaching staff.

The Mets are tied with the Miami Marlins for the best batting average and are tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the ninth-most runs in 2025.

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Even though they have a three-game first-place lead in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen has held them back from winning a few games so far this season. They have taken most of the series the have played in, which has been great sight for fans to see after their rough start in the Tokyo series against the Dodgers in mid-March had people worried early about what this season could look like.

The starting rotation has been hit hard, with a season-ending injury to Justin Steele and a hamstring strain for Shota Imanaga depleting their depth early in the campaign. Imanaga’s loss will sting for the next month or so, as he was dealing once again at the top of the team’s staff in their strong start to the year. This will require other arms in the rotation to step up in the meantime, while potentially grabbing a big time prospect like Cade Horton from Triple-A to help the club out.

The bullpen needs all of the consistent help it can get as the team is getting ready to hit their stride into the summer. These late-game collapses cannot keep happening and the front office will need to take action on the trade market at summer point to address their broken stable. One right-hander who has only made a couple of big league appearances in relief this season for the Cubs has been impressive, and he could work himself into the fold throughout 2025.

Gavin Hollowell is making his case to stay with the Chicago Cubs

Hollowell was first called up prior to Chicago’s series opener on April 22 at home against the Dodgers. The veteran went two frames in that game and didn’t allow a hit or run in the Cubs’ most exciting comeback victory of the season. The highlight of Hollowell’s club debut came when he struck out Shohei Ohtani in a rocking Wrigley Field environment that felt like a playoff atmosphere.

The former Colorado Rockie was called back up for his second stint with the team in 2025 after Imanaga was officially placed on the IL. Hollowell tossed two more scoreless innings against the Giants in Monday’s win, where he allowed just one hit and struck out one batter as well. The 27-year-old pitched in one big league game with Chicago last season after he appeared in 26 contests with the Rockies in 2023.

The Chicago Cubs might need Gavin Hollowell down the stretch

Hollowell’s funky delivery and mid-90s fastball has led to his early success with the Cubs in 2025. While this has been a small sample size, the veteran has thrown well against some of the game’s best bats and the front office might start taking his push to be a full-time arm in the bullpen seriously depending on how his next couple of outings go.

With a rough ending to Tuesday night’s game against San Francisco where closer Ryan Pressly allowed eight earned runs without recording an out in the 11th inning, Chicago will need to look at every possible option in the organization to help out in the stable to avoid the issues that the team had in relief last summer.

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The Chicago Cubs appeared worried about the status of Shota Imanaga following his early exit from Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. The Cubs’ starting pitcher made his second-straight early exit, leaving Tuesday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates early due to cramps.

Imanaga believed Sunday’s injury was separate from the cramping issue on Tuesday. The Cubs believed he suffered a hamstring strain and were waiting on Monday’s imaging results to find out how serious the injury was.

In the meantime, multiple Cubs insiders suggested the team would look to call up Cade Horton to the majors if Imanaga had to miss time. Horton has had a strong start in Triple-A this season, posting a 1.24 ERA. He gave up just two hits in six innings during his outing on Sunday.

The Chicago Cubs brought up Gavin Hollowell

Per the Cubs, the team placed Imanaga on the 15-day injured list. Chicago is calling up right-handed relief pitcher Gavin Hollowell from Iowa.

Today's roster moves: pic.twitter.com/yd6AWTFcZq

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 5, 2025

Hollowell has appeared in one game for the Cubs this season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 22, giving up no hits and recording two strikeouts in two innings pitched. He has appeared in seven games in Triple-A, posting a 3.86 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched.

Cubs fans wanted Cade Horton brought up

Many Cubs fans on social media were confused by the controversial move to keep Horton in Iowa.

“Where is Horton?” asked a fan.

“that is a weird way to spell cade horton,” wrote another.

Other fans think it’s wise for the team to wait to call up Horton while he rests after pitching on Sunday.

“Guys Horton wouldn’t need to be up til Saturday so they’re not gonna waste a spot for 5 days when Holloway has options,” wrote a fan.

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Despite the Chicago Cubs leading the NL Central by three games entering play against the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, their pitching health has been a concern this year. Losing Justin Steele for the entire season in a few weeks ago was not news that the organization was thrilled to hear. The left-hander seemed off from the beginning of Spring Training, as his fastball velocity was down and he left plenty of breaking balls up in the zone.

Along with injuries, the bullpen having inconsistent moments have hurt the club as well. While things have gotten much better for the stable over the past few weeks, keeping things as locked in as possible with the unit entering the summer is preferred for the coaching staff. The biggest downfall for the last two years with this organization has stemmed from poor bullpen performances, and the front office does not want that to be the case in 2025.

Shota Imanaga leaving his second consecutive start on Sunday was a major concern for Cubs fans everywhere. The team’s new ace had to leave his start last Tuesday against the Pirates due to leg cramps and was lifted on Sunday on the road against Milwaukee with a hamstring strain. Based on Steele’s strained hamstring a season ago, Chicago has to be prepared to lose Imanaga for a brief period of time.

Shota Imanaga has a similar injury to Justin Steele’s last year

Steele strained his hamstring on Opening Day against the Rangers last season and missed over a month because of the injury. His strain was considered Grade One, which is the most mild strain possible. Despite this, Steele was out from March 28 to May 6 and missed his turn in the rotation numerous times.

If this is the best case scenario for Imanaga, the Cubs front office and coaching staff needs to be prepared to be without him for the time being. The second year pro has been dealing so far this season, as he currently holds a 2.82 ERA to pair with his 1.10 WHIP in eight starts. Imanaga has tossed in 44.2 innings so far this season and has a 3-2 record.

The Chicago Cubs have to overcome losing Imanaga and Steele

One obvious option for the Cubs to go to when addressing the help that their rotation needs is currently sitting in Triple-A. Cade Horton has been on fire so far this season with the Iowa Cubs and the 2022 first-round draft choice could be making his big league debut any day now based on how thin the organization is with starting pitching.

If the front office wants Horton to get more time in Triple-A to prepare him for life in the big leagues, Chris Flexen would be the arm to move from the bullpen to the rotation. Similar to Horton, the veteran right-hander dominated Triple-A in five starts before earning a promotion last week. Flexen made his Cub debut in the 10-0 rout of the Brewers last Friday at American Family Field where he tossed three innings in relief to end the contest.

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The Chicago Cubs have taken on some reclamation projects from a pitching standpoint over the past few seasons at the big league level. Most of these arms have stood out in the bullpen for pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, as the starting rotation has been the strongest unit on the team in recent memory entering the 2025 campaign. Julian Merryweather and Tyson Miller are two relief arms in each of the last couple of seasons that have turned their careers around in the Windy City.

Even though the Cubs are currently in control of the NL Central, there is still plenty of ball to be played this season. Their bullpen has faltered on occasion and the depth of their starting rotation has been depleted, especially after Shota Imanaga had to leave his start on Sunday in Milwaukee due to a strained hamstring.

The front office will need to rely on guys from Triple-A and the trade market if they want their pitching staff to make it through the entire regular season. They have an opportunity to make an addition through a different avenue after a veteran was placed on waivers by the Tigers last week.

The Chicago Cubs could take a chance on Kenta Maeda

Maeda was officially designated for assignment by Detroit last week and the Tigers are responsible for eating the $10 million remaining on his contract this year. The right hander struggled mightily in his time with Detroit this year. Maeda appeared in seven games and possessed a 7.88 ERA to pair with his 1.88 WHIP in 8.0 innings tossed. The veteran signed a two-year deal with the Tigers prior to last season and he pitched in 29 games for the club in 2024. Out of the 29 appearances he made, 17 of them were starts and he logged 112.1 innings on the hill.

Maeda finished last year with a 6.09 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP along with his 3-7 record. The now 37-year-old had a rough go at it in Detroit and he might not have much left in the tank in his big league career. If there is a pitching coach that can turn around a veteran’s outlook in the game, it’s Hottovy and he might be able to help Maeda overcome his struggles if given the opportunity to work with him.

Kenta Maeda would provide more depth for the Chicago Cubs

With injuries to Imanaga and Justin Steele, the Cubs may have to lean on top pitching prospect, Cade Horton to come up to the big leagues and take on a major role from the jump. Chris Flexen was called up from Triple-A last week and after making his team debut in relief against Milwaukee on Friday, he might need to jump into the rotation at some point as well.

Even though he has primarily worked out of the bullpen as of late, an addition of Maeda could be for him to get a crack with the starters. However, the coaching staff could be confident in their starting plan moving forward and Maeda be another throw at the dart board as a veteran reliever. With the exception of a couple of arms in the stable, nobody’s role in the group should be safe.

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The Chicago Cubs had a second straight scare with lefty ace Shota Imanaga. This second time around, though, the scared, sinking feeling was warranted.

In Sundays’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, the Cubs’ top starter had to be removed from the game in the bottom of the sixth after having pitched five scoreless innings. The Japanese star injured his left hamstring in a double play attempt. It was the second straight start where the 31-year-old had to leave the game early due to leg issues.

The Cubs are being cautious with both words and actions following the injury, sending their top-of-rotation starter for further tests to determine the extent of the injury. Even in a best case scenario, though, it’s possible that he’ll miss several starts while healing. A worst case scenario, obviously, would be disastrous for the team.

Shota Imanaga Injury Shakes Cubs

Needless to say, losing Imanaga for any period of time, with his 2.82 ERA through 8 starts so far this season, is horrific news for Chicago. After having lost Justin Steele for the rest of the season and Javier Assad for at least half the season, the starting rotation is looking thin and fragile.

And, with a long way to go before teams make pitching assets available at the trade deadline, the Cubs will have to look internally for rotation help.

Given the circumstances, it’s unavoidable that top pitching prospect Cade Horton’s name would be brought up as a possible stopgap replacement.

Calling Up Cade Horton?

As Imanaga was leaving Sunday’s game, the Cubs’ 2022 no. 1 draft pick dazzled once again in Triple-A Iowa, giving up just one run and two hits in six innings. In six starts this season, the 23-year-old has posted a stunning 1.24 ERA, limiting opposition hitters to a feeble .129 batting average while striking out nearly a third of everyone he’s faced.

In Sunday’s post-game press conference, Cubs manager Craig Counsell wouldn’t offer his thoughts on the possibility of calling up Horton, saying that the team was “not even close” to executing backup plans until determining the extent of Imanaga’s injury.

But, realistically, where else could they go if they lose their remaining lefty ace for an extended period of time?

Chicago Cubs May Have No Choice

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic reported on Sunday that his sources within the Cubs organization say that Horton will get the big league call soon.

Per Sharma:

“But even before Imanaga’s injury, sources within the organization have indicated they believe Horton is ready to contribute at the highest level. Horton tossed six innings of one-run ball Sunday with Triple-A Iowa, striking out five while walking one and allowing just two singles. On the season, Horton has a 1.24 ERA with a 30.6 percent strikeout rate and 12 percent walk rate…

The Cubs had been hoping and expecting Horton would impact the team this season. Until Sunday, there didn’t seem to be an obvious landing spot for him. Colin Rea (1.46 ERA) has been pitching brilliantly in Steele’s absence, and Ben Brown bounced back nicely with six scoreless innings Friday.

If Imanaga heads to the IL and Horton is the choice, this certainly isn’t how the Cubs would have preferred their top pitching prospect to make his debut. But in a season in which October is a must and the team looks more than strong enough to make a run, all hands are on deck.”

Although he’s coming back from a season-ending injury last year and has limited actual pro mound time, it looks as though Horton has to be the man, for now, in a legit baptism under fire.

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Regardless of if the current starting rotation remains healthy over the summer, the Chicago Cubs front office will likely add another arm to bolster the staff at the trade deadline. Losing Justin Steele for the season just a few weeks into the campaign pushed this narrative forward for the organization, but it will have to be at the right price.

With Chicago having a loaded farm system with plenty of talent that could help them out down the road, it will have to be the perfect situation to move on from a few pieces of their future to add strength to the 2025 rotation. While everyone knows that prospects are never a guarantee and that acquiring the known sometimes works out better at the end of the day, the Cubs front office still needs to be smart with how they spread out their resources.

One of the top pitching targets at the trade deadline this season has had a rough start to the year, and Chicago should be fully aware of the situation.

Sandy Alcantara has had a rough start to the year

Sandy Alcantara was viewed as one of the top trade chips in the league entering the season. With the Marlins not expected to do much this year and with Alcantara coming fresh off surgery that had him miss the entire 2024 campaign, he instantly became the topic of conversation across the trade market this spring.

Alcantara won the National League CY Young award in 2022 and although he wasn’t as dominant the following year, he kept a clean bill of health. The right-hander made 28 starts following his CY Young year and was still relatively consistent for the Marlins until he missed all of the 2024 campaign.

So far this year, Alcantara has a 8.31 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in six starts. He has a 2-3 record and has worked in 26.0 innings for a Marlins squad that is already 8.5 games out of first place in the NL East. Alcantara’s last start came against the Dodgers on Tuesday where he allowed seven runs in 2.2 innings tossed.

The Chicago Cubs could look elsewhere for rotation help

If Alcantara can’t be consistent throughout the summer, the Cubs might not be in the position to use some of their valuable assets to acquire him. Even though they need the rotation help, it is completely within reason for the front office to be picky when looking at the market.

From an internal standpoint, top pitching prospect Cade Horton has been lights out so far this season. The 2022 first round draft choice has a 1.17 ERA in 23.0 innings pitched and five starts at the Triple-A level. Horton has dealt with injury issues in the past, and Chicago’s front office has made it known that they want to take their time getting him to the big leagues.

There aren’t many early trade candidates on the pitching market at the moment, with certain teams not knowing whether they are for real yet or not. These options for the Chicago Cubs will make themselves known more throughout the summer, and it will then be up to Jed Hoyer to determine what he is willing to part ways with to get this team as ready as possible for a potential postseason push.

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Chicago Cubs fans (and, likely, players, coaches, front office) let out a collective “oh no” Tuesday night as pitcher Shota Imanaga was taken out of the game after five scoreless innings, just one batter into the sixth.

A little over two weeks after the Cubs’ other lefty ace, Justin Steele, was officially shut down for the season to have elbow surgery, another starter– their top-of-rotation starter– was hurt.

Fortunately, Imanaga’s injury was not severe and his removal from the game was more precautionary than anything else.

“Both legs in the quad area were cramping,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told assembled media after the game. “It was kind of easy – had to take him out. He feels fine now – no issues. So hopefully it was just that.”

Hopefully.

Chicago Cubs Get A Reality Check In Imanaga Scare

And, although this may have been only a drill, the Cubs have to realize just how precarious their situation is when it comes to the starting rotation.

They may be able to stall, fill, and work around the loss of Steele, at least until trade deadline, but losing a second top starter would prove to be disastrous. Imanaga’s brief scare reminded us of that, but the reality is that there’s reason to question the long-term durability of the oft-injured Matthew Boyd, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, and Ben Brown, who got slapped around a bit in his last start and is also coming off a serious injury that shut down his season last year. There’s also the fact that Javier Assad re-injured himself during his minors rehab assignment and will reportedly be out for at least one more month.

So, what can the Cubs do if the unspeakable happens and they lose another starter (or one falls wildly out of favor)? The trade market is not open so early in the season and the team doesn’t have another Colin Rea to provide a veteran stopgap.

The team announced on Wednesday that they were bringing up the 30-year-old Triple-A starter Chris Flexen, who’s been impressive in Iowa so far this season. That is, already, an admission that the rotation may need some help. It’s quite possible that they may need more help down the line.

Will They Bring Up Cade Horton?

Well, if more bad thing happen, the Cubs may have no other choice but to reach down to Iowa and pull up an admittedly not-quite-ready Cade Horton, their top pitching prospect.

As recently as this past Sunday, though, Counsell dismissed the idea of the 23-year-old, who’s posted a stellar 1.17 ERA in five starts for the Iowa Cubs this season, being called up to the majors in the immediate future.

“I think it’s a little soon…Cade, he’s coming off a serious injury,” Counsell told reporters before Sunday’s finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. “It’s April still, and I think it’s important that he has both a physical foundation and a foundation of success.

“And we’re building that right now, and he’s building that right now, and he’s doing a great job of it. But we’re early in the process…There’s absolutely things that he needs to keep improving on. And those are going to be important. And some of those things, they don’t necessarily show up in Triple-A, and they’ll show up immediately here.”

Not Ready Yet?

Horton was the Cubs’ 2022 first-round draft pick but had his 2024 season shut down in late May due to a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. This represented the second serious injury of his short pitching career, as he had Tommy John surgery in 2021 as a college freshman in Oklahoma.

He has definitely impressed in Triple-A, but there have been some control issues and some stamina issues, as advanced analytics show him losing significant velocity and movement after the 60-70 pitch mark. All of this is to be expected of a young pitcher coming back from injury.

The talent and tenacity is there, though and, in case of emergency, he may have no choice but to get a true baptism-by-fire introduction to the minors.

“I think there’s no question, a healthy Cade Horton, he’s going to impact this team,” Counsell said.

The question is whether the need for a quality starter will override the team’s concern about bringing the young asset along carefully.

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The Chicago Cubs have one of the best Triple-A teams in the minor leagues, as most of their top prospects are there trying to prove themselves worthy of a call-up. The Iowa Cubs are getting the Cub’s top prospect, Matt Shaw, who was optioned after a slow start.

Shaw will join prospects like Cade Horton, Moisés Ballesteros, and Kevin Alcántara, to name a few, who are all off to hit starts. Horton was impressive in his most recent start, where he added six more strikeouts to his total.

Ballesteros was the Cub’s standout star in their win over the St. Paul Saints, who they demolished. Ballesteros is swinging a hot bat and is forcing the issue and will test the theory of “if your bat can play then they’ll find a spot for you”.

Ballesteros standout performance

The Cubs gave a shellacking to the Saints, defeating the Saints by a score of 20-6 and hitting

eight home runs in the game, which was a franchise record. The more impressive feature of the game was the Cubshad 24 total hits, which was six times more than the Saints, who had four.

“I think we won?”

I think we won? pic.twitter.com/xcqzx06hxL

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) April 16, 2025

The Player of the Game for the Cubs, without question, was Ballesteros, who displayed his power at the plate. In the Cub’s dominant victory, he went 4-5 (.800), hitting a double, two home runs, driving in three RBI, and a walk.

“Moises Ballesteros had himself a day and takes our PLAYER OF THE GAME!”

Moises Ballesteros had himself a day and takes our PLAYER OF THE GAME! pic.twitter.com/DP8QR8ZtDN

— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) April 16, 2025

Ballesteros is the Cub’s top-catching prospect, and since he’s swinging a hot bat, he is forcing the Cubs to call him up, as his bat is ready for the big leagues. Ballesteros doesn’t have a spot as Miguel Amaya and Carson Kelly are doing well behind the dish and at the plate.

The Chicago Cubs may need to call up Ballesteros

Ballesteros overall for the Triple-A season is hitting out of his mind, slashing .368/.419/.579 for an OPS of .998 in 14 games. Ballesteros has been a doubles machine so far as he has four in 57 at-bats and added a triple and two home runs to his credit, which he hit in the win over the Saints.

The Cubs have been doing great offensively, but adding another bat couldn’t hurt, as they could score as many runs as they can to help their depleted starting staff out. Ballesteros does have the positional flexibility to play first base, but since Michael Busch is off to a hot start as well, he is blocked at that position.

Unless there’s an injury to either Amaya, Kelly, or Seiya Suzuki, the team’s designated hitter, Ballesteros will have to wait down in the minors for his opportunity. However, if his offensive rampage continues, a spot will be made available for him. The Iowa Cubs will again play the Saints today, and have three more games left in the series.  

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The Chicago Cubs have one of the better farm systems in the game, as they have seven top-100 prospects, with one, Matt Shaw, debuting this season and has struggled in his first 18 games. Shaw should be back up soon as his demotion should be temporary, as they would like him to work on having a better approach at the plate. 

Shaw will join the rest of the Cub’s prospects down at Iowa, where they’re off to a great start to their season and recently scored 20 runs on the St. Paul Saints. The drumming of the Saints wasn’t just led by a standout performance by the offense but saw a great pitching performance from the Cubs’ number two overall prospect, Cade Horton. 

Horton could be an option to take over for left-handed Justin Steele after he will miss the rest of this season. Horton could be a viable choice after a great start to the Triple-A season. 

Horton continues his run of dominance down on the farm for the Chicago Cubs 

Horton is off to a great start to his season down in Iowa, having a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 innings (three starts). The most impressive part of Horton’s stat sheet is his 18 strikeouts, collecting six more in the win over the Saints. 

“With 6 more today, Cade Horton has 18 K’s in 12.1 IP this season”

With 6 more today, Cade Horton has 18 K's in 12.1 IP this season @IowaCubs | @Cubs pic.twitter.com/ZNRmlFZde7

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 16, 2025

Horton’s big problem has been his command, as he has walked ten batters in three outings. He will need to limit those walks to make the major leagues. He’ll also need to figure out why he struggles in the fourth inning, as he has a 7.71 ERA. 

Horton has allowed two earned runs and a home run and has a .364 average against him. For Horton to go deeper into games, not an inning to get away from him, getting through them quickly and cleanly will be key. 

An option for the rotation 

Hortons early success could lead to his promotion as the Cubs need not just another pitcher but a right-handed pitcher. 

Horton would’ve debuted last season, but an injury cost him that chance. If Horton can limit his walks, there shouldn’t be anything holding the Cubs back from calling him up and giving him some runway to succeed.

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The Chicago Cubs received terrible news that one of their top left-handers, Justin Steele, will miss the rest of this season due to an elbow injury and require surgery.

The Cubs are playing great baseball, and not having Steele be an anchor in their rotation will hurt dearly, as the Cubs will have to find production elsewhere.

Thankfully the Cubs have a few internal options they can turn to, which should hold them over if they decide to trade for another starter at the trade deadline.

The most immediate option for the Chicago Cubs’ starting rotation

The Cubs have at least three options to choose to replace Steele in the rotation, even though the guys replacing Steele won’t provide the same level of production Steele would bring.

The first and most immediate option the Cubs have is right-hander Colin Rea. Rea was signed this off-season for something like this and could slide into the rotation for a few starts.

Rea has appeared in three games this season and has not allowed a run in any of his outings. His longest outing came against the Athletics in Sacramento, throwing 3.0 innings in a mop-up role.

For his career, Rea has made 76 career starts and a career ERA of 4.52. Rea will take the mound tonight for the Cubs when they play the Los Angeles Dodgers for the last game of the series.

A sign of one of the Cub’s top pitching prospects could get the call

Another option the Cubs have is promoting their top pitching prospect, Cade Horton.

Horton was a non-roster invite to spring training and pitched in three innings, with a 3.00 ERA in two games.

Horton is the Cub’s second-ranked prospect and is off to a hot start at Iowa, where he has a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 innings.

The 23-year-old Horton would’ve debuted last season if it hadn’t been for an injury that caused him to miss his whole season. The injury to Steele could provide an opening for Horton to get a chance to make his big league debut, as the Cubs could use another right-hander in their rotation.

One right-hander is working his way back

The last and most likely option to fill in for Steele will be right-hander Javier Assad.

Assad has been dealing with an oblique strain since the start of spring training and has been slowly progressing back to throwing in game situations.

The latest injury update on Assad is he pitched three innings out in Arizona on April 9th and will begin his rehab assignment with the Iowa Cubs on April 15th.

Assad beginning a rehab assignment is good news for the Cubs as it will give them another pitcher for their depth, but an experienced right-hander to plug into the rotation.

Assad made 29 starts for the Cubs last season, pitching to a 7-6 record and a 3.73 ERA in 147.0 innings.

The need for innings

Steele going down means one less arm to tackle taking down innings for this season, and will have to be found elsewhere from other guys.

These three provide good internal options, but the Cubs may not hesitate to make a move to get a high-level arm as the trade deadline gets closer.

Given they’re trying to make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, that could be a possibility.

The post Chicago Cubs: Three internal options to fill in for Justin Steele after his injury appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs entered into this past offseason with the stated goal of targeting front-of-rotation starting pitching.

There were several reason for that. Most notable is the hard, cold reality that a team– especially one with postseason aspirations– can never have too much pitching. It’s a long, long season and any number of things can happen to valuable arms. So, it’s always advisable to try and have more pitchers than one needs.

Despite their lofty rotation goal, however, the Cubs finished the offseason with only rehabbed lefty Matthew Boyd added to the starting staff, along with swing man Colin Rea.

And now, with just a handful of games under their belt, the Cubs have run into their first starting pitching issue as ace left-hander Justin Steele had to be placed on the 15-day injured list with left elbow tendonitis, the same injury that sent him to the IL last September.

Justin Steele Goes Down

Cubs manager Craig Counsell seemed cautiously optimistic about the injury, even with an MRI planned for Thursday.

“We’re gonna take the conservative route here,” Counsell told reporters. “He had symptoms of an injury that he experienced last year. For that reason, rather than have him focus on his next start, I think it’s best to back off that and make sure he recovers in a good place. (We’re) hoping it’s the minimum and he can be ready to go in a couple of weeks.”

Frustratingly, the injury came after Steele’s best outing of the young season, allowing only 3 hits over 7 shutout innings in Monday’s 7-0 win over the Rangers, in a brutally frigid Wrigley Field.

The Cubs will benefit from having four games off over the next couple of weeks, allowing the rotation to operate in 4-man mode for most of that time. Rea has reportedly been designated the fifth starter when needed.

But plans do need to be made if Steele’s injury is more extensive.

A Steele Replacement Via Trade

One of the quickest paths to rotation insurance is via trade.

Major trades this early in the season are fairly rare, but there are some quality arms out there that seem destined to eventually be fodder at the trade deadline. A deal could be pushed forward under the right circumstances and for the right price.

Baseball media voices have jumped on the “insurance for Steele” story and have been tossing out possible trade targets for the Cubs. The names range from Zac Gallen of the Arizona Diamondbacks to Taijuan Walker of the Philadelphia Phillies to Bobby Miller of the Los Angeles Dodgers. There are also the ever-present calls to explore deals for either Dylan Cease or Michael King from the San Diego Padres.

None of those proposed trades seem too realistic at this point of the season, though.

The Chicago Cubs’ Other Options

Another backup plan for an injured Steele is via minor league call-up of top prospect Cade Horton or recently demoted Cubs Jordan Wicks and Keegan Thompson.

While the talent is deep at Triple-A, it would probably be unwise to call up Horton at this stage of a year coming back from injury. Re-adding former big leaguers from the Iowa Cubs would also be more of a temporary stopgap than a long-term fix.

A third backup-to-Steele option for the Cubs is to just be patient.

Javier Assad is not too far away from his first rehab assignment and could be worked into a Steele-less rotation. Rea is also a stable, albeit unspectacular, replacement. Brad Keller could be given a try in the rotation as well.

For now, there’s no need to go into full panic mode about Steele. But, still, preparing for the worst would be smart.

The post Chicago Cubs must consider these backup options for injured ace appeared first on ChiCitySports.

The Chicago Cubs are playing very well at the moment, sitting atop the NL Central Division.

While, of course, it’s very early into a very long season, there are a lot of good things happening on the north side of Chicago and a lot of signs that those good things may extend into the future.

Fitting in well with the major league team is rookie third baseman Matt Shaw, who moved up from the talented Triple-A Iowa Cubs to do his thing as an every day starter. Shaw joins young, recent Iowa Cubs Pete Crow-Armstrong, Porter Hodge, Ben Brown and Miguel Amaya as impact players on a team with immediate postseason aspirations.

The young core in Chicago is a testament to the depth of talent within the Cubs organization and, specifically, at the upper levels of the farm system.

That level of talent has once again been confirmed by the experts.

Chicago Cubs Young Talent Recognized

Baseball America (subscription required) has recently released its ranking of the top 10 most talented teams in all of minor league ball and it has placed the Iowa Cubs at no. 1.

Citing the presence of the four Cubs in their top 100 prospects list– Cade Horton (no. 54), Moises Ballesteros (no. 62), Owen Caissie (no. 64), and Kevin Alcantara (no. 71)– as well as the overall depth of the roster, the Cubs Triple-A team placed above the well-regarded Charlotte Knights and Everett AquaSox.

The Baseball America top ranking lines up with the similar no. 1 placement from MLB.com, which has five Cubs prospects on their top 100 list.

Per MLB.com:

“Triple-A Iowa stands above the rest of the Minors as the only team with five Top 100 prospects. Right-hander Cade Horton (MLB No. 49) is the top prospect on the team, but Iowa can almost fill out an entire lineup of ranked prospects.

Outfielder Caissie (MLB No. 51), catcher Ballesteros (MLB No. 66), second baseman James Triantos (MLB No. 70) and outfielder Alcántara (MLB No. 87) are all tooled up, and while corner slugger Jonathon Long (CHC No. 13), infielder Ben Cowles (CHC No. 22) and outfielder Christian Franklin (CHC No. 25) don’t have plus grades, they each have versatile well-rounded profiles. Right-hander Brandon Birdsell (CHC No. 8) earned the Cubs’ 2024 Minor League Pitcher of the Year award — a year after Horton won — as an innings-eater with a repeatable and deceptive delivery, while Jack Neely (CHC No. 16) is a weapon out of the bullpen with a 70-grade slider.”

The Dark Cloud Inside The Silver Lining

The darkish cloud around the Cubs’ organization silver lining, however, is that, while the Triple-A affiliate is regarded as the top of the tops, everything below that is not as well-regarded.

As a matter of fact, Baseball America ranks the Cubs’ overall farm system just a middle-of-the-pack 15th in baseball. MLB.com, meanwhile, has the Cubs at no. 8.

But The Immediate Future Looks Bright

That doesn’t bode all that well for further down the line. In the immediate future, though, things look bright for the team as new, young talent begins to flow on to the major league scene.

Names such as Horton, Caissie, Alcantara, Ballesteros, and Triantos are all listed by MLB.com as potentially major league-ready as of this year. Other pitchers and role players could also conceivably find their way on to the major league roster on an as-needed basis.

Give the universal regard shown to the Cubs’ top prospects by experts and analysts, this is all good news for an organization top-heavy with young talent.

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