On a night when the Chicago Cubs’ bats finally came back to life, Cade Horton still somehow managed to stand in the limelight.

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That’s because what he’s continued to do as the sole rookie member of the Cubs’ rotation has been unmistakably special.

On Saturday, Horton shone again. While Cubs hitters put up 12 runs, he was working his magic on the mound, tossing six scoreless innings to lower his ERA to a sparkling 2.88 in 93.2 innings.

Horton has allowed just two earned runs over his last seven starts. That’s the fewest in a seven-start span for a Cubs pitcher since 1901 — meaning the 23-year-old stamped his name onto the top of a leaderboard that a Cubs pitcher hasn’t sniffed in almost a decade.

Behind him sit a pair of World Series champions in Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta. It’s a list pretty indicative of everything Horton has done right in his first season in The Show. And he’s on a run so impressive that even his own manager struggled to find the words to describe it.

“His efficiency and how many outs he’s getting in these outings … I didn’t expect this when we decided to do this,” Craig Counsell told reporters postgame of the way Horton has exceeded expectations.

Counsell’s typically stoic face then broke into a proud smile.

“He’s been incredible with it,” he told reporters. “It’s helped us out a ton and it’s helped our bullpen out a ton.”

One knack that Horton has developed over his first 17 big-league starts is his ability to dot the strike zone relentlessly.

It wasn’t just his seven strikeouts — including three of future Hall-of-Famer Mike Trout — that showcased his skill. It was the fact that he threw his first 21 pitches in a row for strikes. That’s tied for the second-most by an MLB pitcher in a game since 2000.

“I think that’s just kind of the way I pitch. Get ahead, stay ahead.”

Cade Horton threw 21 consecutive strikes to start the game. pic.twitter.com/irGxd0CmoS

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) August 24, 2025

For reference, he had only thrown 23 pitches through three innings. Across 10 batters faced, he threw just one ball.

“The whole room is talking about that,” Counsell told reporters. “I don’t know what to say … Today, I was joking with him — the first ball he threw was after he got hit in the foot. He threw a ball on a warm-up pitch.”

That style of quick, efficient baseball has been Horton’s MO since he made it to the big leagues. It started when he struck out the first batter he saw on his MLB debut. It continued when he threw 28.1 consecutive scoreless innings from late July to early August, or when he threw 56 of 67 pitches for strikes in his start on Aug. 6.

“I think that’s just kind of the way I pitch,” Horton told reporters after earning his eighth win of the season. “It’s get ahead, stay ahead. Just continuing to stay on the attack and letting the result be what it is.”

In doing so, Horton has landed himself in elite company this season. His six scoreless starts of five or more innings since July 1 lead the majors, followed only by Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes (5), teammate Matthew Boyd and the Milwaukee Brewers’ Freddy Peralta (4 each). His ERA leads qualified rookies in the National League and is third in all of MLB.

But, as Horton has said so many times this season, he’s always looking to be better than he was the last time. That’s how he’s begun to toe the line of dominance as the Cubs draw ever closer to a long-awaited playoff berth.

“It all just goes back to my process — continuing to get better at my process,” Horton told reporters. “I’ll be able to sleep good tonight, but tomorrow, it’s back to work.”