CLEVELAND — The Cubs aren’t sounding the alarm bells after promising right-hander Cade Horton left his start Friday in the second inning with discomfort in his right forearm, but they’re obviously concerned.
Manager Craig Counsell said Horton will be put on the injured list. The severity of the injury has yet to be determined, but Horton will miss his next start.
He’s staying in Cleveland on Saturday and will travel back to Chicago on Sunday for further evaluation.
“There’s reason to be optimistic [that] this is something minor,” Counsell said after the Cubs’ 4-1 loss to the Guardians. “It can be minor, and then we can have [Horton] back out pitching relatively soon.”
In the second inning, Horton walked Kyle Mozardo on five pitches and was in a 1-1 count against Bo Naylor before he called for the dugout. Horton’s last pitch was clocked at 93.8 mph.
He said he felt some tightness in his wrist early that moved to his forearm as the game progressed. Horton tore his ulnar collateral ligament before his freshman season at Oklahoma, forcing him to redshirt the year, so he wanted to be prudent about pitching through an injury that could worsen.
“I’m pretty hopeful,” Horton said. “I’m erring on the cautious side, and so I feel like I made the right move, even though it sucks doing that and putting [the] bullpen and everybody else in that situation.”
Righty Colin Rea went 3⅓ innings, allowing one run, four hits and a walk and striking out four. He moved from the bullpen to the rotation last season as the Cubs dealt with injuries to left-handers Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele.
But losing Horton would be a blow for the Cubs. He’s adept at working around hitters and generating more swing and miss than most of the rotation.
After a shaky spring training, Horton, the No. 7 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, looked strong in his 2026 debut against the Nationals. He went 6⅓ innings, allowing two runs, four hits and a walk and striking out four.
Horton’s performance was a continuation of how he pitched last season before a non-displaced rib fracture prematurely ended his season. He had a 1.03 ERA over 12 second-half starts.
A right lat strain derailed his 2024 season.
“I do everything the right way, try to stay healthy, and things pop up, so [I] just have to deal with them and move on,” Horton said.
The Cubs have the pitching depth to survive a short absence from Horton. Rea was solid in relief, and righty Ben Brown has improved out of the bullpen.
“The season requires people to step up if you want to accomplish your goals,” Counsell said. “You’d like to avoid it for as long as you can during a season — and hopefully the things that happen are not season-ending — but you need guys to step up.”
