As Cubs build toward playoffs, Cade Horton's NL Rookie of the Year buzz grows

CHICAGO Cade Horton did not make excuses.

The Cubs pitcher refused to lean on the postgame cliches about good pitches that just missed the target, or bad bounces on balls in play.

Instead of writing it off as random baseball stuff, the rookie stood there in the visiting clubhouse and told reporters: I got my ass kicked.

Advertisement Horton views the game as direct competition, not math homework or a game of chance.

At a certain point, it doesnt matter what Statcast measures with those pitches, or how good the game plan looks on paper.

Its all about how you attack each hitter and respond in the moment.

That night, Horton did not match his own expectations, and things began to spiral.

Even without Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, the Houston Astros still have some noteworthy hitters in their lineup.

The crowd of 39,451 inside Daikin Park made the Cubs feel like it was as close to a road playoff environment as possible at least for Game 82 on June 27.

The takeaway, then, was how Horton could use that experience to prepare for October.

In processing his ninth major-league outing, Horton seized on the four walks in four innings, and how he hit Jeremy Pena with a pitch after forcing an 0-2 count.

Giving up seven runs during that 7-4 loss to the Astros became a turning point.

Since then, from July onward, Horton has allowed just nine runs.

I didnt have a lot of conviction, Horton said.

I just really started to trust my stuff, and attack and not be afraid of the results.

The results, at the end of the day, will be what they are.

Its just staying in the process and continuing to get better, no matter what happens every week.

That consistency and efficiency has turned Horton (10-4, 2.70 ERA) into a National League Rookie of Year contender and a potential Game 1 playoff starter at Wrigley Field.

At times, how pitchers evaluate their own performances during the media scrums at their lockers can be deceiving.

Those interactions with reporters are also not totally meaningless.

Bursting with confidence as he chased the 2015 NL Cy Young Award, Jake Arrieta left no doubt that he believed he was the best pitcher on the planet.

In maintaining an unflappable demeanor in the clubhouse, Kyle Hendricks demonstrated the poise that the Cubs needed when he started Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.

Oftentimes, Jon Lester answered questions with a mixture of brutal honesty and self-deprecating humor, which showed a side of his personality that endeared him to teammates.

Advertisement At 24 years old, and with only 110 innings on his major-league resume, Horton isnt at that rarefied level yet.

In terms of priorities, he said, Id rather win a World Series than Rookie of the Year.

How hes reacted to everything injuries earlier in his career, a closely monitored workload, the major-league routine bodes well for the future.

Being self-aware is a really good trait, and a really important trait, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.

How he handles the feedback coming to him, hes really good at that.

Thats a skill.

Thats part of what makes him very successful.

Its definitely a reason that hes been successful so quickly.

Hortons 0.84 ERA since the All-Star break has drawn some comparisons to Arrietas second-half run in 2015.

But the game has changed so much over the past decade.

Horton is at a significantly different point in his career, and the Cubs are in a different place now, too.

Arrieta, the change-of-scenery pitcher the Cubs acquired from the Baltimore Orioles, had established a sturdy foundation over multiple major-league seasons.

He threw 100-plus innings before and after the 2015 All-Star break, including four complete games that summer.

Young, fun and energetic, that 2015 team peaked later in the season, winning 97 games at a time when that was only good enough for third place in the NL Central, and the wild-card format was condensed to just one thrilling game.

Ten years later, these Cubs are more businesslike.

The late-season drama revolves around injury updates and whether they will host a three-game series in the wild-card round.

The more impressive and illustrative comparison is the year-over-year growth that has transformed Horton into an X-factor for the playoffs.

You just have to go out there and shrink the moment down, Horton said.

Its just another baseball game.

Its another outing.

When you make the moment bigger than what it is, thats when things get out of hand.

Its just shrinking the moment and making it about one pitch.

Advertisement Hortons 2024 season was largely wasted, developmentally, due to a subscapularis strain and the discomfort he felt around his right shoulder.

After being limited to only 34 1/3 innings in the minors, the Cubs decided to put him on a slow, deliberate program in spring training.

The hype and expectations for the former first-round pick were diminished, both internally and externally, not that Horton seemed to care.

The same collaborative, comprehensive approach that guided the ramp-up in Arizona factoring in complex data, insights from multiple departments and on-the-ground observations appears to have him ascending toward the biggest games of the year.

Pitching, in some ways, continues to be a place where we dont have all the answers, Counsell said, in terms of how players develop, what they can handle, things like that.

Were doing a better job of trying to individualize programs.

In Cades case, hes gotten here and hes made small adjustments.

His ability to compete hes a really, really good competitor has helped him adjust to things and make adjustments very quickly.

Thats why, whenever he has a start thats Eh, he fixes it.

That speaks to an aptitude for sifting through information, listening to coaches and teammates, and sequencing pitches within each at-bat.

The pure stuff and natural athleticism were never really in question for someone who had the potential to play college football at Oklahoma, and starred as a two-way player in a high-major baseball program.

Horton is supposed to be good the Cubs selected him with the No.

7 pick.

But as club officials like to say, player development is not a linear process.

Some things are unmeasurable.

Sometimes, you can just see it and hear it.

As Horton said that night in Houston: Id rather get my ass kicked tonight than go out in October and get my ass kicked there.

(Photo: Edward M.

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