{"id":649383,"date":"2026-03-28T22:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/649383\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T22:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T22:29:15","slug":"cade-horton-strong-in-2026-debut-leads-cubs-to-10-2-win-over-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/649383\/","title":{"rendered":"Cade Horton strong in 2026 debut, leads Cubs to 10-2 win over Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before their 10-2 win Saturday over the Nationals, Cubs<\/a> manager Craig Counsell said he could remember one or two starts when Cade Horton struggled last season. Because of how nonlinear development is, Counsell predicted Horton<\/a> would have more bumpy games in 2026, perhaps on consecutive outings.<\/p>\n

Dealing with the occasional failures, Counsell said, could be a challenge Horton faces this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s adjusting to that and going from that. Cade handles that part really well,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cHe turns it off and takes an objective look at it. He\u2019s going to go through that, and you want to be ready to help him through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horton\u2019s first start of 2026 wasn\u2019t one of those difficult outings.<\/p>\n

The runner-up in last year\u2019s National League rookie of the year voting, Horton went 6 1\/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits. Importantly, Horton was efficient, needing only 75 pitches to get 19 outs.<\/p>\n

Despite an eight-run lead, Counsell allowed Horton to begin the seventh another sign that the Cubs expect the 24-year-old righthander to lead the staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prepare for it the same way I prepare for every year: just focusing on getting stronger and being able to manage my workload between outings has been the biggest thing for me,\u201d Horton said. \u201cIn terms of going deeper [in games], it really is about just getting built up and staying healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horton made 22 starts last year, and by the end of the season had emerged as one of the Cubs\u2019 best starters. But Horton\u2019s 2025 was cut short by a rib fracture, ending his promising year on a disappointing note and sidelining him during the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a new year, it\u2019s exciting,\u201d Horton said. \u201cA lot of adrenaline, but it\u2019s all about just controlling that and focusing on what I can control and that\u2019s executing pitches and living pitch to pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pitch that worked the best for Horton on Saturday was his fastball, which he threw 45 times and for strikes on 85% of its uses. Though it\u2019s classified as a four-seam fastball, the pitch moves and is difficult for opponents to pick up.<\/p>\n

Combined with the rest of his repertoire \u2013 change-up, sweeper, sinker, curveball \u2013 a sharp Horton causes problems for hitters.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s throwing a 95, 97 mph fastball that\u2019s cutting,\u201d said Ian Happ, who hit a three-run home run during the Cubs\u2019 four-run sixth. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s the same shape back-to-back any time. Sometimes it cuts and rises, other times it dives down.\u201d<\/p>\n

One reason Horton was able to pitch deep into Saturday\u2019s game was not being reliant on strikeouts. He only got four Saturday and was content to let Washington make weak contact and set up the Cubs defense make plays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat power fastball that he has is so strong that it\u2019s not easy for hitters to put in play,\u201d said catcher Miguel Amaya, whose fourth-inning home run was his first since May 19 of last year. \u201cWhenever they make contact it\u2019s soft contact in the infield. And then attacking the zone is going to protect all the secondary pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cubs hope Saturday was the start of Horton building off what he did in 2025. They have championship expectations, and Horton figures to be a key piece if the Cubs reach their goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be a huge part of it. He\u2019s going to take the ball every fifth day,\u201d Happ said. \u201cWe need him. We need him to be [that] version of himself. It\u2019s been impressive to watch. He\u2019s going to continue getting better, that\u2019s the fun part of having a guy like him on the staff.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before their 10-2 win Saturday over the Nationals, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he could remember one or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-649383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicagocubs","12":"tag-cubs","13":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116309168162622576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}