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.
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