The Cubs Have an Obvious Choice, Right?
It’s gotta be Cade Horton, right? Shōta Imanaga has a hamstring strain and the Cubs will find out how severe the injury is after receiving imaging results from the pitcher’s left leg. The team doesn’t have to find a replacement for Imanaga’s next start until Saturday, when the Cubs play their second game against the Mets, so we’ll be waiting for the decision in suspense for the next few days.
Even before Imanaga was removed from Sunday’s game against the Brewers, Cubs fans were calling for Horton’s promotion to the big-league rotation. The 23-year-old prospect was in the midst of another stellar start at Triple-A, as Horton pitched six innings. The righty allowed one earned run, while striking out five and walking one.
Sunday’s start marked an important milestone for Horton, who missed the majority of the 2024 season because of a Grade 2 subscapularis strain in his right shoulder. The starter completed six innings for the second consecutive outing and Horton threw a career-high 78 pitches. Horton has thrown at least 76 pitches in each of his last four starts.
Most importantly, Sunday represented Horton pitching on four days of rest, breaking away from the once-a-week pitching schedule that he was previously on to begin the 2025 season.
Horton struggled early on with his command and whether that was a mechanics issue or simply him being rusty, the 2022 first round pick has erased any worries regarding his strike-throwing. He issued 10 walks in 12.1 innings through his first three starts and in his last three starts Horton has only walked 3 batters in 16.2 innings.
In six starts overall so far with the Iowa Cubs in Triple-A this season Horton has a 1.24 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, with 33 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29 innings of work. After the serious shoulder injury in 2024, Horton is once again pitching to his top prospect status.
Horton has improved his fastball velocity in 2025, going from an average of 94.1mph last year to 95.8mph. He’s accomplished that while also taking a bit off his breaking pitches, adding more deception to his repertoire.
This is all to say, Cade Horton appears ready to pitch in the majors. Now, the question is how aggressive will the Cubs be with Horton’s call up? We all know that as long as Horton remains healthy he will be up at some point in 2025. Imanaga’s injury just so happens to create an opportunity for Horton to come up sooner than expected.
There are alternatives. Chris Flexen is on the 26-man roster and looked solid in his three-inning save Friday night against the Brewers. The 30-year-old veteran pitched well at Triple-A, posting a 1.16 ERA in 23.1 innings before he earned a promotion to the Cubs. He threw 54 pitches on Friday and only had a one-inning appearance at Triple-A on April 26, so it would be interesting to see exactly how stretched out Flexen would be if he’s asked to start next weekend against the Mets.
The Cubs do have Thursday off after their three-game series at home against the Giants, so if they really wanted to hold off on calling up Horton, then Matthew Boyd and Colin Rea could be moved up to start Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Then, the Cubs could use Horton and/or Flexen the following week at home vs. the Marlins or White Sox.
But I guess my question is, why complicate things? Horton and Imanaga are on the same schedule and Horton could come up and make his MLB debut on normal rest Saturday. We’re all hoping Imanaga’s hamstring strain is a minor issue, but that still means he’s out 4-6 weeks. Bring up Horton now, have him settle in and with five days off from now until June 2, the Cubs can shuffle up the rotation and give Horton an additional day of rest with a makeshift six-man rotation.
Horton is healthy. Horton is stretched out to the 80-pitch mark now and he gives the Cubs the highest ceiling out of any of their options to fill in for Imanaga. He doesn’t really have much left to prove at Triple-A.
I think it’s Cade Horton time for the Chicago Cubs.