Oklahoma Baseball: RHP Cade Horton Selected in First Round of MLB Draft

Horton had his name called early getting selected No. 7 overall by the Chicago Cubs.

The 2022 MLB Draft is underway with one Oklahoma player coming off the board in the first round on Sunday night.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Cade Horton, who was one of the fastest-rising prospects in recent memory, was taken No. 7 overall by the Chicago Cubs.

𝐁𝐎𝐎 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲@CadeHorton14 selected 7th overall by the @Cubs!

🔗 https://t.co/D35ohj15o9#Sooners | #MLBoomer pic.twitter.com/YV0V6Qy04E

— Oklahoma Baseball (@OU_Baseball) July 18, 2022

After missing his entire first season in Norman after having shoulder surgery, Horton began the 2022 campaign focusing solely on hitting and playing third base for Skip Johnson’s club.

But, as the season went on, he began to work into the fold on the mound pitching in some games out of the bullpen.

In April, the Sooners then made the move to slide Horton into the starting rotation with the hard-throwing right-hander focusing on pitching full time and getting the ball on Sunday’s.

The rest, as people say, was history.

After some mixed results initially, Horton soared through the postseason with scintillating performances in the Big 12 Championship Game, the Gainesville Regional, the Blacksburg Super Regional and the College World Series.

His final performance in an OU uniform was certainly a memorable one, putting up a CWS record 13 strikeouts in a losing effort against Ole Miss in the CWS Finals.

Horton finished the year with a 5-2 record and an ERA of 4.86 and 64 strikeouts in 53 ⅔ innings of work on the season, with the numbers not truly telling the whole story after his astonishing close to the year. 

His historic finish to the campaign helped him become the first Oklahoma player to be named a freshman All-American by Baseball America since Sheldon Neuse in 2014. 

After some discussion on whether or not he would pursue a professional career or consider returning to college, that conversation can now be put to rest with the top-10 selection. 

The Sooners now can turn the page heading into next season knowing they will need to replace Horton's production in hopes of making a return to trip to Omaha in 2023.