Horton recently suffered a setback in his rehab for a right lat strain and isn't expected to return from Triple-A Iowa's 60-day injured list this season, Tim Stebbins of MLB.com reports.
Though Horton is expected to resume throwing before Iowa's season comes to an end Sept. 22, the 22-year-old right-hander won't have enough time to get ramped up for a return to game action. The setback is a tough development for Horton, who is one of the Cubs' top pitching prospects and looked like a candidate to make his MLB debut at some point in 2024 before suffering the lat injury in late May. Over his nine starts with Double-A Tennessee and Iowa this season, Horton compiled a 4.46 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 40:13 K:BB over 34.1 innings.
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Cubs' Cade Horton: Shut down 3-to-4 weeks
Rotowire
Horton (lat) was diagnosed with a subscapular strain Tuesday and will be shut down from throwing for 3-to-4 weeks, Tony Andracki of Marquee Sports Network reports.
The 22-year-old was removed from his May 29 start with the injury and was placed on Triple-A Iowa's 7-day injured list shortly thereafter. Horton will require some time to build up his arm strength after the shutdown period, so he likely won't be ready to rejoin Iowa until at least late July. He's struggled in his first taste of the Triple-A level this season with a 7.50 ERA and 1.56 WHIP through five starts.
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Cubs' Cade Horton: Missing bats at High-A
Rotowire
Horton has a 3.89 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and a 28.7 K-BB% in nine starts (39.1 innings) for High-A South Bend.
The No. 7 overall pick in last year's draft, Horton made his first four pro starts at Single-A before quickly getting the bump to High-A in early May. With a slew of promotions and graduations, Horton has a case as one of the top five pitching prospects left in the minors. He has given up five or more earned runs in two of his nine starts at High-A, but he had a dominant seven-start run from May 17 through June 29, logging a 1.76 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 49 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. Given his age (turns 22 in August) and pedigree, Horton should soon get a promotion to Double-A Tennessee.
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Cubs' Cade Horton: Bumped to High-A
Rotowire
Horton will make his High-A debut Wednesday after logging a 1.26 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 21 strikeouts in 14.1 innings across four starts for Single-A Myrtle Beach.
The No. 7 overall pick in last year's draft, Horton has one of the best sliders in the minors and was overmatching Single-A hitters in his pro debut. He could feasibly climb beyond High-A this season if he stays healthy, but injuries limited him to 53.2 innings at Oklahoma, so his workload will be monitored.