CHICAGO -- The Cubs will spend time working backwards from Cade Horton’s latest injury, going over their handling of the young pitcher and exploring if anything could or should be altered in the name of prevention going forward.
For now, the ballclub is not sure what else it could have done in an effort to avoid this situation.
“When I look back,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed 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 24-year-old Horton is done for the season after imaging revealed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The pitcher is scheduled to undergo surgery (date yet to be announced) with Dr. Keith Meister, who will determine the specifics of the procedure during the operation and then follow up with the recommended timetable for return.
In the meantime, the Cubs are facing the loss of one of baseball’s budding aces until 2027 and trying to decipher if the setback could have been prevented.
Horton returned from Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow during the ‘22 season with Oklahoma, and the Cubs picked him in the first round of that summer’s Draft. Chicago did not have the right-hander pitch in any professional games the rest of that season and took a cautious approach to his workload in ‘23.
During Horton’s first pro campaign, he logged 88 1/3 innings combined across Single-A, High-A and Double-A -- never exceeding 79 pitches in an outing. In ‘24, a muscle strain behind his right shoulder limited Horton to 34 1/3 innings overall between Double-A and Triple-A. Prior to the setback, the Cubs again held him to fewer than 79 pitches in each outing.
Last year, when Horton finished as the runner-up for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, he worked 147 innings between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago. He did reach a season-high 94 pitches on July 9 with the Cubs, but manager Craig Counsell was careful from that point on. In the next 11 outings (excluding his final start, which was abbreviated due to a fractured rib), Horton averaged 76 pitches.
Horton ended last season with a 2.67 ERA in 118 innings in the Majors.
“We were really careful with his pitch counts. We didn’t push him,” Hoyer said. “Obviously, he had the rib injury late in the season. You hope that the [Tommy John surgery in ‘21] will last longer. Obviously, in this case, he broke down again. The hope is that he’ll have the repair and get back and get back to where he was.
“But you have to play. You have to pitch. I think that, ultimately, guys are throwing 96-97 [mph] with great stuff. You have to let them go pitch.”
Without Horton in the mix, veteran righty Colin Rea is back in the rotation after a season-opening stint in the bullpen. It is a similar sequence to a year ago, when Rea stepped up when lefty Justin Steele was lost in April to season-ending elbow surgery.
“It felt really similar, honestly, to this,” Hoyer said. “We sort of learned from that experience and moved forward. We had a really good season last year. Guys stepped up and pitched really well. We have to have the same thing happen.”
Righty Javier Assad is currently in the rotation again -- recently promoted from Triple-A after Matthew Boyd (left biceps strain) landed on the 15-day IL. The rest of the rotation includes Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon. Righty Ben Brown is another depth option in the bullpen.
Steele and Jordan Wicks (15-day IL, left forearm) are facing hitters in their respective comebacks and offer depth down the road. The Cubs also have highly touted prospect Jaxon Wiggins (No. 55 on Pipeline’s Top 100 list), but Hoyer noted the righty recently had a start pushed back due to some arm soreness.
Asked if the Cubs are exploring any external help, Hoyer said that process never stops, but added: "It's also not something that is top of mind.”
Front of mind for the Cubs right now is Horton and his long road ahead.
“I really do feel for him a lot,” Hoyer said. “He had done everything possible. I think we had done everything possible. We were unbelievably conservative with him, really, since we drafted him. I know how hard he had worked and how hard we had worked to get him to this point. He looked fantastic.
“These things happen. It’s part of a baseball season, and I feel terrible for him. I know he’ll come back strong.”