Getting comfortable: Efficient outing by Horton puts Cubs in win column
Game 2 of the Cubs season began with this simple forecast:
If they couldn't win a Cade Horton vs. Miles Mikolas pitching matchup, maybe it's time to re-evaluate expectations.
No worries, Cubs fans, the home team cruised to a 10-2 victory over Washington at Wrigley Field on Saturday as Horton delivered an efficient performance.
Horton went 6⅓ innings, throwing 75 pitches, allowing 4 hits and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts. It was something he talked about last year during his rookie campaign — quick outs lead to deeper outings.
“You can't strike somebody out 0-0, so why even try?” he said. “Like, just try to get ahead. If they end up putting it in play, great.”
The Cubs played a strong defensive game, turning three double plays. And after an Ian Happ 3-run homer boosted the lead in the sixth, manager Craig Counsell felt that was just about enough for Horton.
“I wanted him to touch the seventh inning,” Counsell said. “I thought that was good for building him up. Then I got a little conservative, frankly.
“I was just uncomfortable with how long he sat there the previous inning, being a 20-25-minute inning. He could have kept going another hitter or two but just chose to make the move.”
Horton has been treated carefully and cautiously for the past several years. After recovering from Tommy John surgery, the right-hander worked just 53 innings for Oklahoma in 2022, but he did well enough to convince the Cubs to snap him up with the No. 7 overall draft pick.
He tossed 88 innings in his first professional season, then worked just 34 before being knocked out by a lat injury in 2024. Last year, he soared to 147 innings pitched while reaching the big leagues.
A broken rib late in the year forced him to miss the playoffs, which was devastating for the Cubs. Now he's essentially the ace of the staff at 24. A full, healthy, successful season is the goal.
“For the most part (in 2025), my arm was feeling healthy, my arm was great,” Horton said. “So now you can really stack that onto this year. Getting that sixth up (in the seventh inning) was huge for me. Not just for my arm, but for my legs. After a long fifth inning, to be able to go back out there, that's huge.”
Mikolas pitched twice at Wrigley Field last year for the Cardinals and was not effective. He surrendered a whopping 9 home runs and 12 earned runs in 11 innings pitched.
The veteran right-hander was much better Saturday but was handed some bad luck in the second inning. The Cubs scored 4 runs on two walks, an infield single, a well-placed bloop single behind first base, then a 2-run error when the shortstop and left fielder collided chasing Michael Busch's pop fly.
Catcher Miguel Amaya, who missed the final four months of last season with a couple different injuries, hit the Cubs’ first home run of 2026, a solo shot to left off Mikolas in the fourth. Amaya finished the day 2-for-4 at the plate with 2 RBI, showing off something else the Cubs lacked at the end of last year. Offensive production from the catchers was excellent when Amaya and Carson Kelly were alternating every day.
“That was a big reason why we were a good offense, a big reason,” Counsell said. “If we can get to that place again where they're both producing offensively to that level … then we'll be able to keep our catchers very fresh, which I think is important.
“It shows up in late July, August, September. Did you keep your catchers fresh? I think that's a big deal we're going to try to work toward this year.”