Chicago Cubs Top Prospect's Dominant Start Could Lead to Promotion Soon

The Chicago Cubs could turn to their top pitching prospect sooner rather than later if he continues to perform like this.

Mar 21, 2025; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton throws against the San Diego Padres in the first inning at Sloan Park. | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs entered the offseason seen by many as a team who was likely to add pitching help.

While they did add a significant number of players, none of them were seen as the huge splash that fans were looking for, especially in the starting rotation.

As massive deals kept coming off the board and the big names disappeared, the Cubs stood pat and believed in what they had in the building already in addition to some budget adds.

While that strategy has paid off at least somewhat in the early going, the depth is going to be tested moving forward.

A season-ending injury to left-handed ace Justin Steele puts Chicago in a spot where they could be desperate to add an arm at the trade deadline.

Instead of a trade however, that huge addition could come even sooner and from within the organization in the team's top pitching prospect and top-50 overall rated young right-hander Cade Horton.

The 23-year-old was expected to make his Major League debut at some point this season regardless, but it was more likeky to be a September call up simply to get Horton some reps.

With the way he's pitching for Triple-A Iowa to begin the season however, Horton might just be called up as a potential key factor in the starting rotation who is capable of doing huge things now.

On Wednesday afternoon, Horton threw 4.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts, lowering his ERA for the season to a ridiculous mark of 1.06:

After posting 4 2/3 scoreless frames for the @IowaCubs today, @Cubs No. 2 prospect Cade Horton lowered his ERA to 1.06 this season 😯 pic.twitter.com/6P9EZAwDEX

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2025

Horton has now made four starts on the year and boasts a 1.06 WHIP to go along with his 1.06 ERA along with 23 strikeouts in just 17 innings.

With a total of just seven hits and two earned runs on the year, his stuff so far has quite literally been unhittable.

As for the Cubs, they have found themselves at a point where they could just be one more injury in the starting rotation away from a complete meltdown.

Chicago has done an admirable job since Steele went down, but how sustainable it is with limited depth is now of course the big question.

In an ideal world, Horton would be promoted more so because he's ready than the team just needing an arm to start games.

However, if he keeps pitching the way he has been, it could be a rare case of both realities merging and the Cubs leaning on the future ace.

Horton is worth keeping an eye on over the coming months as he continues to knock on the Major League door and maybe, just maybe knocks it down sooner rather than later.