Chicago Cubs Top Pitching Prospect Shut Down After Injury Diagnosis

One of baseball’s top pitching prospects, Cade Horton of the Chicago Cubs, has been sidelined for at least

a month due to a right lat strain, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

After a stellar start at Double-A Tennessee earlier this season, the 22-year-old right-hander was assigned

to Triple-A Iowa, where he will require three to four weeks of recovery time before he can return to

pitching.

Horton sustained the injury during his most recent start, and the Cubs placed him on their 7-day injured

list.

This marks Horton’s first serious injury setback in his professional career.

After Horton helped the Sooners win the Men’s College World Series, Chicago selected him out of

Oklahoma in the first round (at pick No. 9 overall) of the 2022 MLB Draft. In 2022, he made no

professional pitches.

But he’s shot to the top of prospect lists in the over two years since his pick. Horton is ranked as the

Cubs’ top overall prospect and the 17th best baseball prospect overall by MLB Pipeline. He was listed by

MLB Pipeline as a possible Chicago call-up in 2024.

Horton began the previous season at Class-A Myrtle Beach, but his performance allowed him to advance.

to Double-A Tennessee and High-A South Bend. In 21 starts, he finished 4-4 overall with a 2.65 ERA,

striking out 117 batters and walking 27 in 88.1 innings.

This season, he began with Tennessee, where he went 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA in four starts. In 16.1 innings,

he struck out 18 and walked two, which earned him a promotion to Iowa in late April by the Cubs.

In five starts with the Iowa Cubs, he went 1-1 with a 7.50 ERA, striking out 22 and walking 11 in 18

innings pitched.

In nine starts in 2024, he is 2-1 overall with a 4.46 ERA, 40 strikeouts, and 13 walks in 34.1 innings.

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