Cubs Ace Cade Horton Gets Honest About Ugly Spring Training Performance So Far

The Chicago Cubs have just two weeks until they are ready to go with their regular season campaign, and one player who fans are most looking forward to seeing back at Wrigley Field is young ace Cade Horton.

After a historic second half of the year, Horton wound up suffering an injury right before the playoffs which cost him a chance to compete in October, but he was absolutely sensational down the stretch and can't wait for year two.

Despite that, the numbers so far this spring have been less than encouraging, including a very ugly start against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday that has some concerned. After allowing six hits and six runs in 3.2 innings pitched, it sounds like concern is the last thing on Horton's mind.

He spoke after the loss and calmed people's nerves by talking about working through his process.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton throws against the Colorado Rockies | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Horton says results ahead of the season are nothing to worry about

"The results, they can sometimes lie to you," Horton said via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. "If I was living in the results, I’d be really disappointed right now...It really is all about getting ready for Opening Day. I can take a lot of good out of what I did today. Obviously, the results were pretty bad, but it is what it is. So, I’ll just get ready for the next one... I focus on the process. I’ve still got a 0.00 ERA in the [regular] season, so there’s no reason to get frustrated."

Through two outings and 5.2 innings pitched, the 24-year-old has a 9.53 ERA and 1.59 WHIP this spring, but camp stats are often something fans get worked up over for not a whole lot of reason. Horton is trying new things, working on stuff, and seeing what works and what doesn't before the games start to count.

While it seems fans have no reason to worry, Horton continuing his success from a year ago is certainly critical for this Chicago pitching staff.

Horton needs to have another big year for the Cubs

Chicago, on paper, has a very strong rotation, but as they saw last year, injuries can simply wreak havoc and destroy depth swiftly. Horton may not make a full 32 starts and touch 200 innings on the year, but the Cubs need him to be healthy and productive.

If he can continue his level of success from 2025, it would be an absolutely massive development for a staff that has as high a ceiling as anyone in baseball when at their best. Hopefully, Horton can get back on track here soon and be ready to hit the ground running once the season does start.