OK, well, this sucks even more than we thought it would. Cade Horton finally had his season-ending elbow surgery earlier this week, and on Friday, Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell revealed the pitcher’s recovery timeline. Fans knew it was going to be at least a year, but right now it sounds like the best-case scenario for Horton’s return is after the 2027 All-Star break.
Prior to the team’s series opener against the New York Mets, Counsell said Horton’s expected recovery will last 15-16 months. That’s tough to hear because you’ll normally see some wiggle room for a potential year-long timetable. Not this time around, and it is a longer recovery period than Justin Steele, who also had UCL revision surgery in 2025, and if he returns by early June, it would be a 14-month gap between MLB appearances.
Horton previously had Tommy John surgery when he was in college, and this procedure was officially his second Tommy John surgery.
A crushing blow for Horton and the Cubs, who were hoping for a better outcome and a shorter recovery. Now, all that’s left to do is hope for no setbacks and that Horton can return at some point in 2027.
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In his rookie season, Horton posted a 2.67 ERA in 118 innings and finished runner-up in National League Rookie of the Year voting. The right-handed starting pitcher has, unfortunately, dealt with previous injuries. As noted above, he had his first Tommy John surgery in 2021. The Cubs selected him in the first round, No. 7 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft, and they were extremely cautious with Horton, who didn’t make his pro debut until 2023. Even then, Horton was limited to 88.1 innings in 21 starts.
Horton made the jump from Double-A to Triple-A in 2024, but he missed the majority of the year after suffering a shoulder injury in late May and then had a setback in August that shut him down for good.
The Cubs probably didn’t want to lean on Horton as much as they did in 2025, but with a series of injuries to the pitching staff, including injuries to depth options in the minors, Horton was called up in May and remained with the team for the rest of the year. He turned into the team’s best starter and one of the best in MLB in the second half, but a freak injury in September took him out of the playoffs. Horton was placed on the injured list in the final week of the season with a rib fracture resulting from severe coughing.
Kind of makes you think what the Cubs will plan in the offseason.
