Iowa Cubs baseball: Pitcher Cade Horton wants to be the king of the jungle for the Cubs

Iowa Cubs pitcher Cade Horton sits in the teams dugout at Principal Park several hours before a March game and shows off his tattoos.

Along the left arm of the hard-throwing hurler is a barrage of them, including a rose, a clock, Jesus and then his first, a lion."Lions are really cool," Horton says with a smile.Its a fitting piece of artwork for Horton, who is in many ways the king of the hill.

The 23-year-old, who got the tattoo in college, was a first-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2022 and has become the organizations top pitching prospect."The lion is the king of the jungle, and that's what I hope to be one day," Horton said.He's well on his way.

The right-hander has rapidly risen through the minors and is one call away from the big leagues while in Triple-A with the Iowa Cubs.

The journey hasnt been easy for Horton, who wasnt even destined to be a pitcher at one point.There was no smooth path for him, his father Mike Horton said.Quarterback, shortstop or pitcher? Horton has to figure it outCade Horton always belonged on a field.

The only question: Where? Horton was a star football and baseball player at Norman High School in Oklahoma, taking over the team's starting shortstop job as a freshman and starting quarterback role as a sophomore.

Football and baseball coaches liked what they saw.

Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn showed interest in him as a freshman.

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy was intrigued but figured Horton had the most potential on the baseball field.After all, that's where he really thrived.

Horton was a standout shortstop, one of the best in the nation, hitting .420 with 128 runs scored and 87 runs driven in during his high school career.

He played in the Perfect Game All-American Classic, one of the top events for high school players, getting a hit in his one at-bat as a pinch-hitter."Phenomenal athlete," his dad said.

The problem was figuring out where Horton fit in on the baseball field.

Despite the stellar stats as a hitter and great range and strong arm as a shortstop, he showed promise on the pitcher's mound with talent that wasn't even close to being fully tapped into.His fastball, which was in the upper 80s as a freshman, was in the 90s later in high school.

He used that and a hardly developed changeup to overpower hitters.

Still, when Horton showed up to Perfect Game contests, he had to beg to hit.When he appeared in Area Code Games, prestigious contests often held by scouts of big-league clubs, he was used as a pitcher.

Horton thought of himself as a possible pro in the infield but also saw a future in football.More: Iowa Cubs baseball: How James Triantos became one of the Chicago Cubs' top prospectsAfter deciding to play baseball at Ole Miss, Horton flipped his decision to Oklahoma, where he was allowed to walk-on the football team and play baseball as a shortstop and pitcher.Horton was briefly a part of the Sooners program, sitting behind star quarterbacks Spencer Rattler and Tanner Mordecai.

Lincoln Riley, now the football coach at USC, was leading the Oklahoma program at the time.

Riley had experience with football players participating in baseball as well.

One of them, Kyler Murray, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for Riley at Oklahoma, was also a first-round pick by the Oakland Athletics.

Murray ultimately gave up baseball and is a quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.

Riley was impressed with what Horton did on the baseball and football fields and saw plenty of potential in his arm."It was really talented," Riley said of Horton's arm.

"It wasn't as refined as some of the older guys in the room, which is to be expected.

But you could definitely see the arm talent and just the athletic talent."Horton's time with football was short-lived.

When Major League Baseball adjusted its age requirements for the draft, Horton become eligible for the annual event after his second year at Oklahoma.

To make sure he got as much learning as possible on the baseball field, he gave up football.The move paid off."Like a man possessed"One of Oklahoma baseball coach Skip Johnson's favorite stories about Horton didn't even take place on the field.

Horton, who missed his entire freshman season after elbow surgery, got on the team bus following a brutal loss to rival Oklahoma State in a game at Tulsa.Johnson was sitting in front of Horton during the trip home and could see Horton's reflection in the mirror.

The Oklahoma skipper noticed Horton, who hadn't even played during the game, stared out the window the entire time, furious about the defeat."Like a man possessed," Johnson said.

The time off was difficult for Horton.

He'd missed his senior year of high school baseball because of the COVID-19 pandemic and then his entire freshman year at Oklahoma because of the injury.

Johnston was planning to use Horton as a two-way player.

Horton was well on his way to becoming a star after hitting 10 home runs in the fall.

Then he got hurt.When Horton came back, he was better than ever.

Horton played shortstop, third base and designated hitter throughout the 2022 season and more than held his own, hitting .234 with six doubles, two triples and a home run with 17 runs driven in and 28 runs scored in just 145 at-bats.Had it not been for his Tommy John surgery, Horton said he might have stuck around the infield for good.

Instead, the injury took a toll on his swing.

Besides, when he eventually got back on the mound, Horton showed that's where he belonged.Johnson eased him back into things.

Horton made his collegiate debut by throwing one inning of relief and logging the victory in his team's big win over Oklahoma State.

By the next month, he was in the starting rotation.During his first start, Horton allowed just one hit and two walks in four scoreless innings against Pacific.

As good as he was on the mound, he was still raw and inexperienced.

But with the help of Johnson, well known for developing pitchers, his fastball velocity increased to the upper 90s.Perhaps the biggest part of Horton's improvement came after a rough outing in which he allowed eight runs to Texas Tech.

Horton knew he needed another pitch and tinkered with teammate Ben Abram on a cutter.

When Horton got in the bullpen, he realized it looked more like a slider.So desperate to add to his arsenal, Horton debuted the pitch a few days later in the championship game of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

He dominated the outing, striking out nine in 5 1/3 innings of work."It kind of took off from there," Horton said.

That set the stage for a memorable postseason for Horton.

Now armed with a big-time fastball and an improving slider, Horton was nearly unhittable the rest of the way.

In five postseason starts, beginning with the Texas outing, Horton went 3-0 with a 2.61 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 31 innings.He never allowed more than two runs or two walks in an outing.

During College World Series starts against Notre Dame and Ole Miss, he struck out 24 hitters in 13 1/3 innings.

The highlight of it all came in the championship game when Horton registered a career-high 13 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings against Ole Miss.Before the start of his last inning, Johnson told Horton he'd let him pitch until he allowed a runner to reach base.

When one did, Johnson went to get him.

Horton had thrown 107 pitches but wanted to stay in the game.Johnson, knowing the draft was near and that Horton had a bright future ahead of him, didn't want to risk anything for his star pitcher."That's called selfless in a world that we live in that's really selfish," Johnson said.Oklahoma ended up losing the game, but Horton gained a tremendous amount of draft stock.

His success in the postseason had moved him up many draft boards.

Horton showed so much in such a short amount of time that the Cubs selected him with the seventh overall pick of that year's draft.Horton decided not to return to Oklahoma and instead signed with the Cubs.Horton has the stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcherHortons rise through professional baseball has been fast, especially when you consider how inexperienced he is.

Horton made just 14 appearances on the hill for the Sooners.

His time as a shortstop also took away valuable opportunities for development.

On the flip side, he still had a low-mileage arm, something that could prove to be valuable down the road.After going 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 21 starts between three different pro levels in 2023, Horton started the 2024 season in Double-A and got promoted to Triple-A Iowa in April.

The season was short-lived for Horton, who made just nine starts before landing on the injured list with a Grade 2 subscapularis strain in his right shoulder.

Horton tinkered with his delivery so he could get back to being more athletic like he was in the past, and he says hes fully healthy now.

He has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025 season.Horton put on a dazzling show in a spring breakout appearance, and through his first two starts with Iowa he compiled a 1.23 ERA with 12 strikeouts across 7 1/3 innings.I feel good, Horton said.

I feel like Im in a good spot.

My velo is back up.

The stuffs feeling good.

Im recovering well.Hortons fastball is still overpowering hitters, reaching around 97 mph early in his outings.

His slider has also become one of his go-to pitches.

Together, its made him one of Iowas best starting pitchers.With Horton healthy and dealing, expectations are higher than theyve ever been for him.

Horton is ranked as the second-best prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline, behind only Matt Shaw, who is already in Chicago.While Horton is still finding his rhythm and still working his way back into form, it's realistic to think that he may make his major-league debut sometime this season.

Iowa manager Marty Pevey believes Horton has the stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation type of pitcher.He can be a two, three guy in the big leagues, Pevey said.Had Horton not gone this route, his future could have still been pretty promising.

He had all the intangibles to be a successful infielder at a high level.

Riley believes he could have had plenty of success as a college quarterback had he opted to stick with football."You could definitely see there was enough talent there that he certainly could have made some noise at that position," Riley said.

But Horton believes he made the right choice.

It's hard to argue with him.

His future on the hill looks bright.

Horton thinks he has what it takes to be the king of the jungle in the Chicago Cubs' rotation someday.Ive always kind of believed in myself, Horton said.Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008.

He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year.

Reach him at [email protected] or 515-284-8468This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Cubs pitcher Cade Horton could be the Chicago Cubs' next ace.

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