Whatever you might say about Jameson Taillon’s latest Spring Training start – the descriptions, the caveats, the fears, the analysis – you can pretty much just say the exact opposite about Cade Horton’s latest Spring Training start.
Horton, facing a Cleveland Guardians lineup with a number of regulars in it, threw 5.0 innings of one-run ball, allowing three hits and a walk, while striking out … TEN! He got TWENTY-ONE whiffs on 72 pitches! He touched NINETY-NINE miles per hour!
It was about as silly as a Spring Training start can get, and I mean that very much as a compliment.
Batters hit just 6-for-52 (.115) with 19 K and a 47.8% whiff rate against Cade Horton’s changeup last season. Of the 129 MLB pitchers who threw at least 200 changeups in 2025, Horton’s 47.8% whiff rate was the 3rd-highest. t.co/lQEwt3JckP
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) March 17, 2026Cade Horton threw five pitches at least once, and four of them (four-seamer, slider, curveball, changeup) at least eight times. I tend to think those four will be his primary mix this year, and if the changeup is as good as it was looking by the end of his season, at least three of those pitches are going to border on plus-plus. And that’s meaning no disrespect to the curveball, which has room for improvement.
My hope, in relation to the idea that established guys are just using Spring Training starts to get their arm ready for the season, is that this was the one spring outing where Horton, the catcher, and the coaches decided to really get a look at “max compete” mode. You do like to see guys do that at some point in the spring, and it’s often in their penultimate start of the spring, as this was for Horton.
“It feels really good,” Horton said of the outing, per Cubs.com. “Last week, I got hit around a little bit. But I feel like I put a good work week together. And so, to see the work I put in the middle of the week to today, I feel like it’s really cool to see what you’re working [show up for] you in the game.”
Last time out, you may recall that Horton got blown up a bit by the Rangers, but talked about his work like a veteran, worried less about the results than the process and execution. It makes me wonder a bit if there were a concerted effort in between starts to allow Horton to demonstrate to himself that, yes, when he’s specifically focused on results, they can still be there. Now, having seen it, he can use his final spring outing just to keep the arm fresh, and head into the regular season ready to undertake the most significant workload of his young career.
More from Cade Horton after his outing, in which he felt he really put it all together (the changeup usage, in particular, was a focus and executed well):
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