{"id":65326,"date":"2024-01-06T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-01-06T14:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=65326"},"modified":"2024-01-05T12:23:50","modified_gmt":"2024-01-05T17:23:50","slug":"cade-horton-cubs-prospect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/01\/06\/cade-horton-cubs-prospect\/","title":{"rendered":"Cubs Prospect Profile: Cade Horton Continues to Impress in the Farm System"},"content":{"rendered":"

The top pitching prospect in the Chicago Cubs farm system and former Oklahoma Sooner, Cade Horton<\/a>, has soared through the minor league ranks. During the seventh overall selection in the 2022 MLB draft, most believed the Cubs would take Georgia Tech backstop Kevin Parada<\/a>. With Willson Contreras<\/a>‘ future unknown, choosing his eventual successor made the most sense. However, Jed Hoyer decided to go the pitching route. <\/span>Horton\u00a0caught the attention of the Chicago front office. They firmly felt that bringing him to the north side of Chicago was a match made in heaven. Up to this point, management has looked right with this choice.<\/p>\n

Cade Horton Prospect Profile\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Horton’s Nasty Addition to His Arsenal\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Without Horton’s incredible turnaround throughout the 2022 NCAA Tournament, he wouldn’t have been near the first round. The right-hander possessed a 7.94 ERA in the 2022 campaign before entering the national playoffs. His next five starts saw him post a 2.61 ERA over 31 innings tossed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Horton’s<\/span><\/a>\u00a0ability to flip the script stemmed from developing a new pitch to his arsenal that he learned the Tuesday before the Big 12 Championship game. The Sooner, the right-hander, began to feel out a slider and figured he’d give it a chance in the tournament. Little did Horton know, it would be his best decision in his young career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As starts went along that postseason, the slider became sharper for Horton. He cemented himself in his first CWS start, punching out 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a 6-2 Sooner victory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite being swept by Ole Miss in the Championship series, Horton put the baseball world on notice. He struck out 13 Rebels in an elimination contest. By showing off his brand new devasting slider to pair with an upper 90s heater, the first round was a lock for the former two-sport athlete.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n