Well this is a bummer. Chicago Cubs rookie Cade Horton, coming off one of the best Cubs pitching seasons since the days of Jake Arrieta, did not win the National League Rookie of the Year.
He finished a relatively close second – he received the only other first place votes – to Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin:
The full NL Rookie of the Year voting from the BBWAA. pic.twitter.com/D3O9NE337p
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) November 11, 2025The news isn’t all bad for Horton, who gets credit for a full year of service time this season by finishing in the top two of the voting. He deserved it after the season he had, and how important he immediately became to the Cubs. It just really sucks that it doesn’t also come with the arguably-deserved accolade of Rookie of the Year.
That said, it isn’t SHOCKING that the vote played out as it did, even if I think the case for Horton was strong. As I wrote previously:
Over 23 games and 118.0 innings, Cade Horton posted a 2.67 ERA, the fifth best mark among ALL pitchers in the NL with at least 100.0 innings pitched. The next closest rookie was Brewers righty Chad Patrick, whose ERA was nearly a run higher. Horton was in a league of his own in that respect.
The peripherals weren’t quite as strong – 20.4% K, 6.9% BB, 10.0% barrel, 41.2% hard, 42.3% groundball, 2.2 WAR – and that may ultimately be a differentiator for any voters who are looking for a reason not to choose a pitcher. That, plus the relatively shorter duration of his contributions to the Cubs, compared to the other two finalists, who were both closer to full-season position players.
Caleb Durbin hit .256/.334/.387/105 wRC+ on the season over 506 plate appearances. He ran the bases well, and played solid defense at third base (chipping in at second and shortstop, too). He was worth 2.6 WAR.
Drake Baldwin, who is probably the favorite, hit .274/.341/.469/125 wRC+ over 446 plate appearances. He did that as a rookie catcher, handling the job well, and posting a 3.1 WAR.
Baldwin has some strong counting stats, too, and the fact that he was doing it while catching is probably going to get him some extra love. I would understand him getting the votes over Horton.
I will tell you one thing I don’t get: there was a voter who didn’t have Cade Horton in ANY of his top-five slots. Joke.
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