Cade

Horton

It’s merely a procedural move after Horton underwent a full Tommy John reconstructive surgery earlier this week. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect, who previously underwent Tommy John surgery during his collegiate career, is facing a roughly 15–16 month rehabilitation timeline, putting his potential return in the second half of next season.

In other words, the next time we’ll see Horton on an MLB field is likely either at the end of the 2027 season or the start of 2028. It’s a devastating blow for the Cubs, who haven’t gotten much good out of replacements Colin Rea and Javier Assad so far. They may be a team watching the trade market as we get closer to the middle of the summer for rotation reinforcements.

It’s a devastating development for the Cubs, and fantasy managers, after Horton blossomed into an upper-echelon fantasy contributor during the second half of last season and looked like a rotation mainstay for years to come. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect hit the injured list over the weekend with a forearm strain after leaving his second start of the season after just 17 pitches. It’s unclear whether he’ll undergo a full Tommy John reconstruction or a less invasive internal brace procedure, which would expedite his return to the majors. It’ll be Colin Rea and Javier Assad tasked with picking up the slack in Chicago’s rotation moving forward.

Horton will visit with Dr. Keith Meister in Texas today to get a second opinion on the MRI results, but this is not trending in a great direction for the Cubs and fantasy managers. We’ll wait to hear more information, but it’s starting to feel like the 24-year-old may be headed for surgery and an extended absence.

The 24-year-old right-hander suffered the unfortunate injury during Friday’s start against the Guardians. The Cubs have yet to give an official timeline for how long they expect him to be sidelined for, so there’s still hope that he’s not looking at a season-ending type of injury. The expectation is that Colin Rea will get the first shot at replacing him in the Cubs’ rotation.

Horton said after the game that the discomfort that caused him to leave his start against the Guardians in the second inning began in his wrist before he developed tightness in his forearm. That doesn’t really sound like a UCL problem, but we’ll see. The Cubs are certainly going to play things safe regardless. Colin Rea, who allowed one run in 3 1/3 innings after taking over for Horton today, is likely to step into the rotation.

That was not what we wanted to hear. Horton was removed after signaling to the dugout following his 17th pitch of the game against the Guardians. The Cubs won’t want to take chances with their 24-year-old, so he’ll probably go on the IL even if they get good news from here. Colin Rea could replace him in the rotation, with Javier Assad perhaps being called up to pitch in middle relief.

Horton, who pitched a scoreless first, appeared uncomfortable after throwing a 93.8 mph fastball, his slowest of the game. It wasn’t obvious what exactly was wrong, but we’ll find out soon enough. Colin Rea replaced him against the Guardians and would be the favorite to join the rotation if Horton lands on the IL.

Horton gave up a homer to James Wood, but the other three hits he allowed were singles and he walked none. This was basically Horton’s average outing from his rookie campaign, when allowed two runs or fewer in 16 of his 23 starts. This goes as a 2.84 ERA, a near match from his 2.67 mark last year. He had four strikeouts today and 4.2 per start last year. One assumes the lack of a top-notch strikeout rate will cost him some this year, but he’ll probably still get better there, even as his ERA climbs a bit. He’ll make his next start Friday in Cleveland.

Horton is ending the spring on the right note. He followed a 10-strikeout performance Monday with this gem where he allowed just four hits and struck out three against zero walks. The 24-year-old doesn’t project as a fantasy ace, but it’s worth remembering that he was excellent in his rookie campaign in 2025, and a step up in 2026 is well within reach.