Cade Horton, who is considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, will miss at least a month after the Chicago Cubs hurler was diagnosed with a right lat strain, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The 22-year-old right-hander will miss anywhere from 3-4 weeks as he recovers, and then will need time to build up to return to starting at Triple-A Iowa, where he was assigned earlier this season after a strong start at Double-A Tennessee.
Horton was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft (at pick No. 9 overall) out of Oklahoma, where he helped the Sooners win the Men’s College World Series.
Although he did not pitch professionally in 2022, Horton has risen quickly through the ranks in the nearly two years since his selection. According to MLB Pipeline, he is the Cubs’ top overall prospect and the No. 17 prospect in baseball. The Cubs placed Horton on their 7-day injured list after he sustained the injury during his most recent start. This is the first significant setback of Horton’s professional career.
Horton started last season with Class-A Myrtle Beach and his success allowed him to move up to High-A South Bend and Double-A Tennessee. Combined he went 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 21 starts, striking out 117 and walking 27 in 88.1 innings.
He started this season with Tennessee, where he started four games and went 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA. He struck out 18 and walked two in 16.1 innings, which led the Cubs to promote him to Iowa in late April.
With the Iowa Cubs he went 1-1 with a 7.50 ERA in five starts, as he struck out 22 and walked 11 in 18 innings.
Combined he is 2-1 with a 4.46 ERA in nine starts in 2024, with 40 strikeouts and 13 walks in 34.1 innings.
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