Have the Cubs Shutdown Top Pitching Prospect Cade Horton for ‘23 Season?

Cade Horton, the Cubs’ top pitching prospect, has had an outstanding first pro season, but it seems it has come to a close.

The 7th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Oklahoma, Cade Horton, has seen his stock rise from a surprising selection to now a top-30 prospect in all of baseball after his outstanding 2023 season. He had stops in Low A, High A, and Double A, and excelled at all three levels. Between them, he threw 84.1 innings with 114 strikeouts, 24 walks, and an ERA of 2.77. Those walk and K’s per nine come out to a very impressive 2.6 and 12.2.

It was a great season, but it seems that it has come to a close as he has been added to the development list for Double-A Tennessee. Basically, the development list is what the minor leagues use instead of the IL to get guys time off to either work on things outside of game action, heal from long-standing injuries if an IL stint isn’t necessary, or to just simply give guys time off. So, with Cade Horton only throwing just over 50 innings since tearing his UCL and needing Tommy John before his freshman year of college in 2021.

As great as it would be to have a guy like Cade Horton come up and throw for the big league club during the stretch run, it seems that will not be happening this year. That is probably the right move as well. There aren’t many guys in the minors that have true ace potential. The Cubs have one of the very few in the game in Cade Horton.

Letting him progress his way through the system naturally instead of forcing the issue is the right call. His time will come, and it could be as soon as next year. For now, we’ll just have to watch his minor league highlights in awe and dream of when he’ll be doing his thing in the Friendly Confines.