NEW YORK — Cade Horton shook off the pitch call from his catcher.
Horton had been waiting for the perfect situation to unleash his changeup in his major-league debut. So why not use it to put away one of the best hitters in the game?
Working to maintain the Chicago Cubs’ one-run lead against the New York Mets in the fifth inning, Horton recovered from falling behind 2-0 to even the count with slugger Juan Soto.
Catcher Miguel Amaya called for a four-seam fastball, but Horton waved it off. He wanted the changeup, which the right-hander had yet to go to in the first 71 pitches he had thrown Saturday night at Citi Field.
Horton executed the pitch perfectly, getting Soto to flail at the changeup out of the zone down and away. It yielded such an ugly swing by Soto that Mets manager Carlos Mendoza came out of the dugout to question whether he had fouled tipped the ball.
Horton followed the strikeout by getting Pete Alonso to line out to third base to end the inning and leave the tying run at second base. His conviction in that moment against Soto by throwing that changeup — ultimately the only one Horton used in the Cubs’ 6-5 win — did not go unnoticed.
“That tells you right away the kind of pitcher he is,” Amaya said, “and that’s why he’s here and helping us.”
Horton, who predominantly relied on his four-seam fastball and sweeper combination, believes his changeup is overlooked within his repertoire.
“I knew he probably wasn’t expecting a changeup there,” Horton said. “I throw it so little on a scouting report, and he’d already seen a lot of breaking stuff so I just wanted to mix something in.”
Horton impressed in his first outing, getting the ball to start the second and tossing four innings to pick up the win. The 23-year-old allowed three runs one four hits while striking out five and not walking a batter. He struck out the first batter he faced, Brandon Nimmo, who went down looking at a full-count, 96-mph fastball.
“He’s a pro, he’s competitive out there,” Amaya said. “Just noticed it right away, his presence. He’s a warrior. He was executing good pitches and dominating this lineup.”
The Mets’ runs against Horton all came on a three-run home run from Brett Baty off a poorly located sweeper in the fourth. He didn’t let that derail the rest of his outing, though. Horton got out of the inning and struck out Tyrone Taylor and Soto in the fifth to end his first appearance on a high note.
“It’s the first home run I’ve given up, it’s not going to be the last one,” Horton said. “So just moving on to the next pitch, you can’t change it. It happened. You’ve got to find a way to attack the next guy and get the out.
“I gained confidence from this, just knowing that my stuff does play and trusting that, just refining some breaking balls and being more in zone.”
When Horton reflected on the most memorable moments from Saturday, he laughed.
“Honestly, probably the bus getting stuck in traffic, I won’t forget that,” Horton said. “My gosh, I’m showing up an hour late almost.”
The Cubs (23-17) opted to use Brad Keller as an opener because it best positioned the team to win, manager Craig Counsell explained pregame. Keller delivered, striking out Francisco Lindor and Alonso in a perfect first inning. By the time Horton took the mound to start the bottom of the second, the Cubs had given him a two-run lead to work with.
Horton wanted to treat his appearance as if it was a normal start. After warming up during the first inning, he made the trek from the bullpen in right-center field to the Cubs dugout during the top of the second so he would come into the game in bottom of the frame from the dugout like a starter would.
Regardless of what Horton showed in his outing Saturday night, his upside has long been part of his journey. From a standout baseball and football player in Norman, Okla., and going on to commit to the Sooners as a dual-sport player, Horton would end up only on the baseball diamond after undergoing Tommy John surgery before his freshman season at Oklahoma. He missed the entire 2021 season, returning the following year to play third base and pitch in relief before getting moved into the rotation.
When the Cubs surprisingly drafted him with the No. 7 pick in 2022, Horton had thrown only 53 2/3 innings since high school — all in that lone healthy season with the Sooners — with a 4.86 ERA while also logging 168 plate appearances as a two-way player. His dominant postseason performance en route to Oklahoma finishing as runner-up in the College World Series provided the Cubs a glimpse of what Horton could tap into once he fully focused on just pitching.
Assistant general manager Jared Banner, who was the farm director at the time of the 2022 draft, credited the Cubs’ amateur department for identifying Horton’s potential and their conviction in him. When Horton reported to the team’s complex in Mesa, Ariz., after signing, it was easy to see why as he flashed elite stuff.
Even now, Horton still has plenty of room to grow and hone his craft.
“That was part of the enticing part of the package,” Banner said Saturday. “Even though he was a college arm, he had been hurt, he’d been playing another sport. And finally he was getting a chance to really focus on baseball, and he’s gotten immensely better over time. We expected that and he did.”
The Cubs believed Horton was ready for Saturday beyond his stellar start to the season at Triple-A Iowa. For highly touted prospects like Horton, there naturally can be added pressure in their first game. How a player coming up to the majors handles pressure and attention can vary, but the Cubs try to tell them to just focus on the moment.
“He’s been preparing for this his whole life,” Banner said. “It’s the same game that he’s always played out there.”
The atmosphere in an MLB stadium where the second and third decks in the outfield and the biggest crowds most players have ever experienced in their baseball careers certainly can test a player’s ability to stay within themselves and be grounded during their debut.
“I wanted to take it easy, slow the game down and just focus on making pitches,” Horton said. “Looking back now, that third deck looked high up there. But just settling in and finding the target.”
Having the first big-league game happen in a big market like New York against a Mets team that owns the third-best record in the majors in front of 41,423 fans adds another dynamic to a debut. He got his first taste of it Friday when he joined the team at the ballpark with his taxi-squad status. That enabled Horton to check out the stadium and get on the field.
Horton credited the exposure to Citi Field a day earlier for helping him feel more settled when he took the mound in the second, revealing he felt more nervous Friday than during his debut.
“Honestly, just being able to see the environment, get acclimated before I step out there, it was huge,” Horton said.
