Cade Horton had surgery on his right elbow Thursday, a blow that could keep the 24-year-old right-hander out until sometime in the summer of 2027, according to Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell. Dr. Keith Meister handled the procedure, which revised the ulnar collateral ligament, repaired the flexor muscle and included internal bracing.
Counsell said Friday the recovery period could last 16 months, a blunt timeline for a pitcher the Cubs drafted with the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft and once viewed as part of their next wave. Horton finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting last season after going 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA, but he was pulled from his April 3 road start against the Cleveland Guardians after throwing only 15 pitches. “When something like this happens, the only thing you can do is kind of worry about what’s next,” Counsell said. “If you put your head on some big timeframe, that’s not very helpful.”
The injury lands at a difficult moment for the Cubs, who are already managing a pitching staff hit by injuries. Opening Day starter Matthew Boyd is on the injured list with a left biceps strain, though the club is planning to activate him next week and start him in the upcoming series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. Boyd said Horton was taking the news in stride. “I know Cade’s in good spirits right now,” he said, adding that surgery can at least bring a clear plan. “There’s a clear path forward. It doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s like, ‘This is what I have to do now. This is what it’s going to look like. Cool, let’s lay out the plan. Let’s lay out the long-term plan and put that on the wall. And then let’s lay out the day-by-day plan and go attack it.’”
The tension for Chicago is that Horton’s ceiling is still part of the franchise’s pitch, even as his body keeps interrupting the timeline. He had already undergone Tommy John surgery before the Cubs drafted him, and the team said that history shaped its conservative handling of him as a minor leaguer and then as a major league starter. Boyd, who came away unscathed from a rehab start with Triple-A Iowa, said Horton has already absorbed the reality fast. “To know that he’s not going to be taking the ball, that’s hard,” Boyd said. “OK, I’m going to do everything I can to be ready for when the ball is back in my hand.” He added, “Cade, as we all know, has a great head on his shoulders. He has that mentality. He came to that clarity very fast. He’s mature beyond his years. He’s going to come back stronger from this.”
For the Cubs, the immediate task is trying to hold together a rotation while they wait on Boyd and plan around Horton’s long absence. The longer view is harsher: a pitcher who looked like a fast-rising part of the club’s core is now facing a recovery measured not in weeks or months, but in seasons. Boyd put the value of that arm in the plainest terms. “You want Cade Horton in your rotation because Cade Horton is an ace,” he said.