Cade Horton comes in as the Cubs consensus top pitching prospect entering the 2025 season. Due to a shoulder injury back in May, Horton missed a large part of 2024. However, he was on pace to being one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. Horton was drafted in the first round of the 2022 draft out of the University of Oklahoma but didn’t make his pro-debut until 2023 at Low-A Myrtle Beach. Across Low-A, High-A South Bend, and Double-A Knoxville, Horton posted a 2.65 ERA, 2.89 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, and a 25.8 K-BB%. All four of those marks led all Cubs minor league pitchers with at least 80 innings. Horton’s fastball has touched 98 mph, but his wipe out slider is really his premier pitch. His changeup and curveball are both still works in progress, but he finds so much success from his fastball and slider that he could possibly join the group of modern pitchers that pitch at an elite level with a fastball and slider alone. Horton was invited to big league camp by the Cubs, but it’s likely he spends a few months at Triple-A Iowa before debuting in Chicago since he hasn’t pitched in a game since May.