{"id":254846,"date":"2025-09-26T00:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T00:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/254846\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T00:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T00:18:10","slug":"chicago-cubs-pitcher-a-go-for-playoffs-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/254846\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Cubs pitcher ‘a go’ for playoffs \u2014 for now"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Cubs are progressing as though right-hander Cade Horton will be available when the postseason begins next week.<\/p>\n

Horton\u2019s MRI on Wednesday showed \u201csome areas of concern\u201d in his ribs, manager Craig Counsell said before Thursday\u2019s series finale against the New York Mets. While the Cubs plan to gather more information, Counsell noted time is on their side ahead of the wild card series starting Tuesday and that Horton \u201cis a go\u201d for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the days go on, we\u2019ll gather more information and see where we\u2019re at,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThe reason we want to get as much information as you can is you want to make sure it\u2019s safe for Cade to go out there and pitch. He\u2019s adamant he can go pitch. We just want to make sure we\u2019ve got all the information before we go out there in obviously a big spot for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old did not throw Wednesday or Thursday after departing Tuesday\u2019s start after three innings<\/a> with back tightness. Counsell called it a very good sign that Horton is scheduled to throw Friday and that the rookie is optimistic he can pitch.<\/p>\n

Horton is not expected to undergo any more tests, but his MRI will be reviewed by another physician.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately, (the postseason) is not until next week,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we want to make sure use this time to let Cade tell us how he feels, let Cade show us how he feels, consult with consult with our doctors and let them make recommendations and get the best decision we can make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the information-gathering process will involve better determining whether this a rib cage and\/or back issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re trying to make sure we know exactly what we\u2019re treating,\u201d Counsell said. \u201cI think as the days go on, we\u2019ll kind of rule stuff in, rule stuff out, and by Cade progressing, we\u2019ll know how he\u2019s feeling and then we\u2019ll be able to make a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horton has been a stellar addition to the rotation, posting a 2.67 ERA and 145 ERA+ in 23 outings spanning 118 innings. He has been tough to hit at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs are on the verge of securing home field for the National League wild-card series. If healthy, Horton likely would be in the mix to start Game 1 of the best-of-three series.<\/p>\n

Their magic number for the top wild-card spot was at two entering Thursday night\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

In 11 home starts, Horton has a 1.63 ERA and 0.940 WHIP in 55 1\/3 innings. Horton\u2019s reliability in the second half helped the Cubs navigate an inconsistent stretch by producing a 1.03 ERA and allowing one or no runs in 11 of those 12 starts.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 25, 2025 at 6:46 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Cubs are progressing as though right-hander Cade Horton will be available when the postseason begins next…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":254847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[5437,960,1271,1816,5386,1818,19176,61637,126895,1305],"class_list":{"0":"post-254846","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-cade-horton","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-craig-counsell","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois","14":"tag-injury","15":"tag-mlb-playoffs","16":"tag-national-league-wild-card","17":"tag-new-york-mets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115267731959164112","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}