CHICAGO -- The Cubs already understood that budding ace Cade Horton was going to be sidelined the rest of this season due to an elbow injury. Both the ballclub and the pitcher now have more clarity about the road ahead.
On Friday, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced that Horton underwent a revision repair of the ulnar collateral ligament with an internal brace on Thursday. Counsell said the procedure, which was performed by Dr. Keith Meister, comes with an estimated recovery timeline of around 15-16 months.
Counsell said Horton already had a good frame of mind about the coming months.
“When something like this happens,” Counsell said, “the only thing you can do is kind of worry about what’s next. If you put your head on some big timeframe, that’s not very helpful. So, Cade talked about just kind of worry about today and make today the best you can, and just keep doing that.
“That’s how you somehow speed this process along a little bit. If you get too far ahead of yourself -- it’s certainly a long, long recovery -- that doesn’t help.”
While every individual case is different, this is a similar situation to a year ago with Cubs lefty Justin Steele. He also had a revision repair procedure (via Meister) in mid-April last season. Steele resumed playing catch by late October and had built up to facing hitters before the end of Spring Training. Currently on the 60-day injured list, Steele could be back with the Cubs by late May or June.
Horton began this season as the Cubs’ No. 2 starter and was in his second outing of the year when the elbow issue flared in Cleveland. During that April 3 start, the righty exited in the second inning after only 17 pitches due to discomfort in his wrist and forearm. Subsequent testing and imaging revealed the UCL damage.
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said recently that he was not sure how the organization could have avoided this situation, given how careful the team has been with Horton’s workload since drafting him in the first round in 2022.
“When I look back,” Hoyer said on Friday, “I don’t have any thoughts or regrets about how we handled him, because we were so conservative. And obviously, he broke down. I just think that is the nature of pitching in 2026.”
The Cubs came into this season with high hopes for the 24-year-old Horton, who enjoyed a breakout showing last year. The righty reached the big leagues in May and spun a 2.67 ERA with 97 strikeouts against 33 walks in 118 innings. That included a 1.03 ERA in the second half, helping Horton finish as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.
Without Horton, the Cubs’ rotation currently includes Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon and Colin Rea. Javier Assad is also in the mix at the moment with lefty Matthew Boyd (left biceps) also on the 15-day injured list. Boyd, however, is on target to be activated on Wednesday to start against the Phillies.
Boyd said Horton is “in good spirits” right now.
“It’s hard being removed from this environment, from this clubhouse,” Boyd said, “because we lean on each other in all circumstances. He’s always going to be a part of it, but to know he’s not going to be taking the ball, that’s hard. That part’s hard. But you also look to the future and say, ‘OK, I’m going to do everything I can to be ready for when the ball is back in my hand.’
“Cade, as we all know, has a great head on his shoulders. And he had that mentality. He came to that clarity very fast. He’s mature beyond his years. He’s going to come back stronger from this. We miss him. I mean, you want Cade Horton in your rotation, because Cade Horton is an ace. And he will be when he comes back.”