CHICAGO — As far as Cade Horton is concerned, he’s still planning on pitching in 2025.

“I think that’s the plan so far,” the Cubs rookie right-hander said before Tuesday’s NL Division Series workout at Wrigley Field. “I think it’s kind of why we’re getting on the mound today and progressing like normal.”

Whether his Cubs’ teammates can stave off elimination and advance to the NLCS and give him that opportunity remains to be seen. But Horton was scheduled to throw a bullpen on Tuesday as he continues to recover from a fractured rib that landed him on the 15-day injured list before the regular season ended.

He is eligible to come off the IL on Friday but cannot be added to the NLDS roster unless he replaces an injured player. The Cubs dropped the first two games of the series to the Milwaukee Brewers and face an elimination Game 3 on Wednesday.

Horton said that, “at this moment, yeah I am pain-free.” But Tuesday’s session would be a good litmus test for potential availability next week.

“I plan to just throw a normal bullpen,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not going to be in there throwing upper 90s, but, yeah, just normal bullpen day.”

The 24-year-old has been trying to keep his stamina up by throwing from his knees, allowing him to have some volume built up while not causing stress on the fractured rib.

“I did that for a couple days, and then once I started to feel good, I started to play light catch, and then just kind of progressed from there,” Horton said. “Everything’s been smooth. So just continuing to build off that.”

The Cubs have missed their breakout rookie, especially in this best-of-five series against the Brewers. They’ve received just 3.1 innings from their starters – Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga – as they fell behind their division rival and are on the brink of elimination.

They had lined up their pitching staff in the final homestand of the regular season so Horton would start the first game of the NL Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres with the two lefties to follow. Craig Counsell and the Cubs bumped their starters up when Horton was ruled out.

The rookie looked primed to be a potential ace for the Cubs in October. He posted a 1.03 ERA in 61.1 innings across 12 games after the All-Star break and routinely dominated lineups.

He hopes that it’s not the way his season ends – but it’s up to his teammates now.

“Yeah, it sucks but just trying to be the best teammate I can,” Horton said. “It’s been fun watching the guys. We still got some baseball to play. Just one day at a time and being the best teammate I can be.”