Cade Horton in ‘Really Good Place’ Entering Spring Training

Cade Horton has the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the Cubs’ rotation. The 24-year-old logged 118.0 innings in 2025 with a 2.67 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Horton finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting, capping off a fantastic rookie campaign.

After suffering a fractured rib late in the season, Horton missed the Cubs’ postseason run. He also dealt with a shoulder injury in 2024, but appears to be healthy heading into 2026 Spring Training.

Cade Horton in the bullpen 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FDSaMs0hLG

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 12, 2026

Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic spoke with Craig Counsell and Horton about the upcoming season and how the right-hander is preparing for his sophomore campaign. Sharma noted in his piece that Horton is already sitting at 96 miles per hour, with his fastball reaching 98 mph.

Horton averaged 95.7 mph on his fastball last season, so it is not a drastic jump. However, him getting ramped up so quickly, before Spring Training games have even begun, is really impressive.

“He dominated the league last year. There (weren’t) many challenges when he was pitching,” Counsell told Sharma. “He was outstanding. Now it’s: Do it again. Do it over a full season.”

The cliché of the “sophomore slump” is something Horton wants to avoid. As he addressed in Sharma’s piece, the next challenge is proving that he can still compete, now that opposing teams have a more detailed scouting report on him.

“There’s still a lot to prove. First year, now guys have a scouting report on me,” Horton told The Athletic. “Now it’s all about going out there and executing a pitch and giving my team a chance to win.”

There is less than a week until the first spring game, when the White Sox come to Sloan Park on Friday for some Crosstown action in Mesa, Arizona.