Prized Chicago Cubs Pitching Prospect Makes First Triple-A Start

The rise of 2022 first-round pick Cade Horton continued with his first start at Triple-A Iowa on Saturday.

Cade Horton sits during a warmup at Four Winds Feild on June 22, 2023. / MATTIE NERETIN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cade Horton, the top-rated pitching prospect for the Chicago Cubs, made his first start at Triple-A Iowa on Saturday against the Omaha Storm Chasers.

The Cubs promoted Horton from Double-A Tennessee earlier this week.

Entering this season Horton was considered the No. 3 left-handed pitching prospect in baseball by MLB.com, citing the improvement of his slider, which is considered among the best of prospects in that category.

He is the Chicago's No. 2 overall prospect and the No. 23 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline.

Horton took the loss in his first start with the Cubs, throwing four innings. He only allowed two hits and two earned runs, but he also walked four and struck out six. Horton threw 77 pitches, with just 44 strikes.

Omaha did its damage in the second inning. Horton gave up a leadoff single to Nick Pratto, who followed that by stealing second base. He advanced to third after Nate Eaton flew out.

That’s when Horton’s control problems got the better of him. He walked Tyler Gentry and Brian O’Keefe to load the bases. Then Horton threw a wild pitch to Cam Devanney, which scored Pratto.

Horton followed that by issuing a walk to Devanney to re-load the bases before John Rave hit a sacrifice fly to Cubs right fielder Owen Caissie, which scored Gentry. Horton then struck out Drew Waters to end the inning.

In the other three innings, Horton retired nine of the 11 batters he faced.

With Tennessee, Horton was 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA in four starts before the promotion. He he struck out 18 and walked two in 16.1 innings.

The former Oklahoma Sooners starter was the Cubs’ first-round pick in 2022 and after taking the rest of that season off due to the Sooners’ run in the College World Series, he went 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 21 starts this season with Class-A Myrtle Beach, High Class-A South Bend and Double-A Tennessee.

He threw 88.1 innings, giving up just 61 hits and 32 runs (28 earned) and had a 1.00 WHIP. He also struck out 117 and walked 27, while also allowing batters to hit just .191 against him.