This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TORONTO -- Craig Breslow, director of pitching and assistant general manager for the Cubs, was with the ballclub during its recent trip to New York.

Breslow held court with reporters, and among other topics, discussed a trio of top pitching prospects.

On Cade Horton (Pipeline’s No. 2 Cubs prospect and No. 43 on the Top 100 list)
The Cubs already knew Horton had a great ability to manipulate a baseball. After all, his in-season development of a cutter last year turned his campaign around with Oklahoma and played a role in Chicago selecting the righty with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Horton has continued to refine pitches at an incredible pace this season, too.

“We kind of laid out the idea that we should try to add a breaking ball and add a changeup,” Breslow said. “And that probably puts the finishing touches on his development, at least from a repertoire standpoint. [We] didn't imagine that it would happen so quickly. And I think that's a testament to just him -- his aptitude, his willingness.”

After opening the season with Single-A Myrtle Beach, the 21-year-old Horton currently finds himself with Double-A Tennessee. In 16 starts at three levels in his first pro season, the right-hander has piled up 92 strikeouts against 16 walks with a 3.03 ERA in 65 1/3 innings.

“There's no question he kind of could have and largely did steamroll through Low-A on the heels of a fastball in a slider, right?” Breslow said. “But he was trying 2-0 changeups and trying to land breaking balls, because he knew that was what was necessary for his development. And I think that's pretty unique, especially for a guy who's as competitive as he is and is also very interested in putting up zeros.”

On Ben Brown (No. 3/No. 67)
The 23-year-old Brown has not pitched since July 30 due to what Breslow described as a “oblique slash lat” setback on his left side. The Cubs executive added that the injury “doesn’t carry any kind of long-term concern," but Breslow did not want to speculate on a timeline for Brown’s return.

“We'll kind of see where we are as he starts throwing again,” Breslow said, “and how quickly he responds and ramps back up. But he was a guy that obviously had excited a lot of people.”

In 19 starts this season between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa, Brown racked up 120 strikeouts with 46 walks issued, 65 hits allowed and a 3.81 ERA across 85 innings. Chicago landed Brown from the Phillies in exchange for veteran reliever David Robertson at the Deadline last summer.

“He deserves the credit for making the steps forward and showing the progress that he did,” Breslow said. “We saw the emergence of additional pitches [sweeper and changeup] to the repertoire and improved command, the ability to get swings and misses. And he's not alone in that. There were a lot of guys that took a step forward.”

On Jordan Wicks (No. 5)
The 23-year-old Wicks -- drafted in the first round of the ‘21 Draft by the Cubs -- has logged five starts with Triple-A Iowa since moving up. Overall this season, the lefty has gone 7-0 with a 3.64 ERA and 87 strikeouts versus 30 walks in 81 2/3 innings (18 starts) between Double-A and Triple-A.

“The changeup was kind of his carrying trait, and likely will always be,” Breslow said. “But he's added some pitches to the repertoire to add some swing-and-miss versus left-handed hitters. He added a pretty big slider. He's also added a little bit of a cutter, which I think helps him get to the changeup.”