Cubs' Horton Out for Season, Team Shuffles Pitching Staff

0:00On April 8th, Chicago Cove's pitcher, Cade Horton, is done for the 2026 season after an MRI showed damage to his right elbows UCL ligament. Manager Craig Council confirmed he'll need surgery, but the exact type full Tommy John or an internal brace won't be known until doctors get in. There. Horton got checked by elbow expert Dr. Keith Meister in Texas this week, with no surgery date set yet. The injury hit on April 3rd in Cleveland, just 17 pitches in, when his fastball velocity dipped from 96 miles per hour to 93.8. It's his second elbow surgery, first back in college at Oklahoma in 2021. Fans had a bad feeling right away, and now it's official for the 24-year-old star. He was the number 7 pick in the 2022 draft, crushed it last year with an 11-4 record, 2.67 R.A. over 1, 118 innings, and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting. His 2026 debut was solid, just one week earlier.

1:02The Cove's are hurting bad without him, especially with Ace Justin Steele still recovering from his own UCL fix and not back to late May at best. Matthew Boyd's on the IL-2, so they'll lean on Colin Rea and Javier Assad in the rotation. Council says it'll be a team effort, with Rea pitching more and others stepping up from the pin. This shakes up Chicago's whole staff early in the year, but they've got depth to grind through it. Keep an eye on how they shuffle things as the season rolls on. That wraps MLB news today, brought to you with AI. I'm Corey with The Story.