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Cade Horton 2024 Fantasy Baseball Outlook: Can The Former First Rounder Impact Chicago's Rotation?
11 months agoWhen the Chicago Cubs selected Cade Horton seventh overall in 2022, many questioned the pick despite Horton's standout performance in the College World Series just weeks before the draft. He was a standout two-sport star and slated to join the Oklahoma football team as a quarterback as well as a scholarship baseball player. Horton began his collegiate career as a two-way player who played third base and shortstop. Still, Tommy John surgery early in his career caused him to miss most of his collegiate career until 2022, when he returned. He saw bumpy results as a pitcher but dominated during the College World Series, seeing his draft stock soar. Horton dominates hitters with a mid-90s fastball that can get up to 99 mph but usually sits in the 94-97 range, getting a ton of swings and misses at the top of the zone. His slider sits in the mid-80s with nice depth and sweeping action, generating over 10 inches of horizontal movement. Horton also mixes in a more vertical curveball that can miss bats. The newest development in Horton's arsenal is his changeup, which he worked hard on developing this season. He even changed the grip to be more of a split-finger changeup. It dropped the RPMs significantly, and while it is still a work in progress, Horton could add a fourth above-average or better pitch to the arsenal while already possessing arguably a plus or better slider and fastball. Given that he has only 88 professional innings and 27 at the Double-A level, there are questions about when he will crack the Cubs rotation. Opening Day is not likely, given the depth, and the Cubs still want to further his pitch development in the Minors. July or August is a reasonable time for Horton to get the call as long as things are going well for him on the mound. He probably is not draftable in most leagues outside of 50-Round Draft Champions, but he is certainly someone to target there and pounce on in FAAB or waivers when he does get the call.
