How Horton ascended into Cubs’ 1st-round pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Cade Horton didn’t make his first pitching appearance for Oklahoma in 2022 — not to mention his first appearance collegiately — until late March.
But what he showed from then on led to him becoming the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by the Cubs.
“I think what we started to see towards the end with his performance in Omaha in the College World Series was indicative of the Cade Horton that we’re going to see in the future,” Cubs VP of scouting Dan Kantrovitz said.
“I also don’t think we’ve seen the best of him.”
Horton, who turns 21 next month, missed his entire 2021 freshman season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and began 2022 a two-way player.
He opened in the bullpen as the Sooners slow-played his return coming off his surgery, and eventually ascended into the rotation.
In nine regular season appearances, he posted a 7.94 ERA in 22 2/3 innings.
“If you would have asked me two months ago if Cade Horton was going to be a top target on the roadmap, I might have been a little skeptical,” Kantrovitz said.
“But then fast forward and just witness the trajectory.”
In his final regular season appearance, Horton gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings against Texas Tech. He knew he had to do something different.
“Even before Texas Tech,” Horton said, “I felt like guys were really getting to the fastball and sitting on one pitch, either the breaking ball or the fastball, and once they got it, they were just hammering it.”
Horton was throwing a bullpen session after that Texas Tech start attended by Sooners head coach Skip Johnson and former MLB player Brett Eibner, when he learned a new slider/cutter pitch grip.
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Before the Sooners went to play Texas in the Big 12 baseball tournament, Horton worked with teammate Ben Abram to further develop the pitch.
Originally, Abram — who advised Horton to “lock out” his wrist — was going to teach him a cutter. It evolved into a slider and “looked really good” in a bullpen session, Horton said.
He threw the slider for the first time in his start against the Longhorns, and in that outing allowed one run and two hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out nine.
That kick-started Horton’s dominant run during postseason play. In five starts, he went 3-0 with a 2.61 ERA and 49 strikeouts (six walks) in 31 innings.
That includes a pair…