Cubs right-hander Cade Horton is potentially making some progress. According to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, he will throw off a mound this week as the club decides whether or not to include him on the NLCS roster, if they advance that far.
Horton debuted this year and hit the ground running. He logged 118 innings for the Cubs with a 2.67 earned run average. Unfortunately, his season ended on a sour note. Horton suffered a rib fracture in September and it was immediately apparent that he would miss at least one playoff series. The Cubs survived the Wild Card round without him but he still wasn’t on the roster for their NLDS matchup against the Brewers.
The Chicago rotation is feeling thin at the moment, composed of Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga and Jameson Taillon. Boyd just got rocked by the Brewers on Saturday. He was charged with six runs, only two of them being earned, as he failed to get out of the first inning. The Cubs went on to lose 9-3. Imanaga and Taillon were both decent this year but both had subpar strikeout rates. If the Cubs can hang on for a best-of-seven NLCS, getting Horton in there to take some pressure of those guys could be a difference maker.
Mooney also adds that the Cubs expect Horton to earn a full year of service time, which is understandable. As a top prospect who was promoted late enough that he wasn’t slated to get a full service year, he can earn that full year retroactively by finishing top two in N.L. Rookie of the Year voting. Horton and Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin are considered the frontrunners for that award, so Horton will likely get that full service year. That would put him on track to reach free agency after 2030 instead of 2031.
Some other injury updates from around the league…
- Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio is in tonight’s lineup, batting leadoff against the Cubs. Chourio left the first game due to some right hamstring tightness. A subsequent MRI led to results which Pat Murphy described as “inconclusive,” adding that it’s “not a serious hamstring strain.” That implied that Chourio did indeed strain his hamstring, though the club is apparently comfortable running him out there tonight. Murphy said today, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that Chourio is not 100% and they’ll take him out of the game if it appears necessary.
- Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader was removed from his club’s first NLDS game against the Dodgers due to a groin injury. He’s not in tonight’s Game Two lineup but he could be available to pinch hit. Manager Rob Thomson passed the new on to reporters, including Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bader is an excellent defender and he hit .305/.361/.463 after being acquired from the Twins at the deadline, so the Phillies will obviously want him back in there as soon as possible. The Phils have Otto Kemp, Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos in the lineup tonight from left to right. Max Kepler is also in the mix, though he’s probably not starting tonight since lefty Blake Snell is on the bump for the Dodgers.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Kids a warrior don’t count him out
Looks like Horton will have to wait til 2026. Cubs eliminated
Not yet. It’s a best 3 of 5 Series. Probably done, but down 2-0 so still alive.
They say, “Always go with a hot hand.”
Not Counsell.
Taillon & Rea have had the most recent success.
But you wouldn’t wanna hurt Shota’s feelings, right?
Just like Counsell nearly mismanaged this team against S.D., he’s pretty much done same here.
Might as well pitch Ben Brown Wednesday.
Lack of offense in both series. Milw will likely beat either of those okay SPs for the sweep and try to win 1 game vs LAD in NLCS. Dodgers aren’t going to be denied the repeat when otherwise legit starters such as Glasnow & grand finale Kershaw are the BP after Ohtani/Snell/Yamamoto do their thing.
yeah, as a Brewer fan, the Dodgers will be a problem for anyone to face with Sasaki pitching well in the pen. That was their only weakness.
Good news tho thats their only reliable guy rn and he’s prone to bouts of wildness
Starting Shota, who’d given up HRs in his last eight starts over Colin Rea, with 18 K’s and only one earned run given up in his last two starts, was just plain stupid.
The Cubs. lol You know it’s October when the polyester smells like poop in Chicago.
I hope the Cubs enjoy Shota at $20m per season for the next 2 years.
Chourio is off to a legendary start in his playoff career. A 1.690 OPS in 19 plate appearances.
I can’t help but question a lot of Craig Counsell’s moves in this post-season. He got lucky against the Padres, but it’s come back to haunt him against the mighty Brewers. The emphasis on analytics is ridiculous. What ever happened to playing the guy WHO ISN’T IN A MONTH LONG SLUMP? What happened to RIDING THE HOT HAND? Why would you start Boyd in game one when the guy is clearly on fumes? Why would you have Shota go in Milwaukee rather than at Wrigley? Why the hell is Ben Brown on the roster instead of Javier Assad? Horton was the MVP of the pitching staff after the ASB, and his injury really, really hurt. But suggesting he “might be available” for the NLCS is laughable. Especially when you look at the track record of the current Cubs regime and how they consistently understate/misdiagnose the severity of an injury or the length of time a player might be out. Maybe the Cubs overachieved in the first half of the year, but it doesn’t make this early exit any easier to swallow.
While frustrating, Craig Counsell’s postseason decisions were likely rooted in sound, data-driven processes. Analytics prioritize specific matchups and long-term performance over temporary “hot hands” or slumps.
Decisions like the Game 1 starter, Shota Imanaga’s location, and rostering Ben Brown were probably aimed at exploiting Brewers’ weaknesses or strategically aligning the pitching staff for the entire series. Vague injury news is standard gamesmanship to keep opponents guessing. It was a calculated, process-based approach where the odds, unfortunately, didn’t break the Cubs’ way in a short series.
Anyone else wondering why Busch leads off instead of Hoerner?
Cubs choking! Key was 1st and 2nd nobody out for Tucker and he choked. No way resigning Tucker for 2026!
Happ was hapless, too.
Looking forward to next year with Owen Cassie replacing Tucker.
Kinda wondered how this series would’ve turned out with a healthy Steele…
Looking for Shaw to have a “breakout year.”
Could we see Alcantara with playing time next year?
Happ and pca could be traded and same with Swanson!
Figured that the brewers would outhomer the mighty and powerfully homer happy cubs tonight at their own game.