The Chicago Cubs had been weighing options for how to best fill injured left-hander Shota Imanaga’s turn in the rotation Saturday against the New York Mets.
Top pitching prospect Cade Horton is seemingly the choice.
The Cubs are planning to bring up Horton from Triple-A Iowa to join the team in New York, a source confirmed to the Tribune on Thursday. Horton, their 2022 first-round pick, is lined up to make his major-league debut Saturday after the Cubs opted to keep right-hander Jameson Taillon and left-hander Matthew Boyd in their normal slots to start Friday and Sunday, respectively, at Citi Field.
The Cubs will need to make a 40-man roster move to put the 23-year-old right-hander on the active roster.
“He’s been pitching fantastic, I think, for a guy who battled some ups and downs last year, some mechanical stuff and some some struggles to take the offseason that he did and come into spring training ready to work, he’s picked up where we all hoped he would heading into the season,” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy said Wednesday of Horton.
“He’s gone down and performed at a high level. We’ve challenged him with some things to continue to get better, and he keeps stepping up in everything we give him.”
Horton missed most of the 2024 season because of a Grade 2 subscapularis strain in his right shoulder and subsequently suffered a setback during his attempt to return before the end of Triple-A season. He finished the year with only 34 1/3 innings pitched between Double A and Triple A. In six starts with Iowa this season, Horton has shown elite stuff — 1.24 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 29 innings — while his command has improved over his last three outings, in which he has walked only three batters and struck out 15 in 16 2/3 innings.
Right-hander Chris Flexen also was mentioned by the team as a possible choice. He pitched the ninth inning Tuesday and Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants, though manager Craig Counsell indicated after the series finale that Flexen hadn’t been ruled out for Saturday at that point.
However, Horton was the most high-upside internal option for the Cubs to slot into the rotation and signals a more aggressive approach for a team that has been rolling as they attempt to navigate another injury to a starting pitcher.
Imanaga, 31, suffered a left hamstring strain Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers. He pulled up while attempting to cover first base in the sixth inning of the 4-0 road loss and came out of the game following the sequence. The Cubs placed him on the 15-day injured list Monday.
It was another blow to the Cubs rotation with left-hander Justin Steele already out for the season following surgery on his elbow.
In eight starts this year — including the season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Tokyo and the home opener against the San Diego Padres — Imanaga owns a 2.82 ERA in 44 2/3 innings.
The Cubs (22-16) enter the three-game series against the Mets in first place in the National League Central, three games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals and Brewers.
