Cubs' Craig Counsell Delivers Stern Message to Cade Horton After Rough Start

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Cubs' Craig Counsell Delivers Stern Message to Cade Horton After Rough Start originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Chicago Cubs rookie pitcher Cade Horton took the mound Friday night for his eighth start of the season, kicking off a three-game series with the Houston Astros.
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Horton has been one of the young starting pitchers the Cubs have leaned on during the absence of Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga, and he's performed quite well.
Coming into Friday night, Horton held a 3.73 ERA, which was good for third among the Cubs starters, behind just Imanaga and Matthew Boyd.
However, Friday night was a rough outing for the young pitcher. After working through traffic in the first two innings, Horton couldn't get out of the third inning without the Astros getting on the board.
Horton allowed three base runners in each of the first two innings, but escaped unscathed. In the third, he loaded the bases with no outs and surrendered his first run on a sacrifice fly. After striking out Christian Walker to create a path out of the inning, Astros catcher Yainer Diaz hit a three-run home run to put Houston up 4-0.
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In the fourth inning, Horton allowed back-to-back singles followed by a second three-run home run. This time by outfielder Cam Smith, who the Cubs traded to the Astros this offseason.
Horton's night was done after four innings. He gave up seven runs on eight hits and four walks.
"I thought we had a good game plan going into it. I just never really caught my footing - let up too many walks, hit a guy up 0-2 - just a recipe for disaster," Horton said after the game. "I got my (expletive) kicked today."
Horton's ERA rose to 4.80 after last night's outing. Manager Craig Counsell had a stern message for the rookie pitcher postgame, but also saw the performance as a learning experience.
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"This was a really good regular season environment. The fans do a great job. This place is loud always. I just told Cade that this is a good example of what the playoffs are going to look like," Counsell said postgame. "Turn it up a couple notches, but of a road game we've that played this year, this is probably the best example that Cade's had of what it turns into against a tough lineup. So, that's the lesson you kind of take from it, and he'll be better next time."
The Cubs' skipper showed confidence in his young starter at the end of his quote. After all, it was only Horton's eighth start in the major leagues, and he did so in a pretty electric environment.
Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton (22) delivers a pitch against the New York Mets during the second inning at Citi Field.Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
As if two of the top teams in MLB meeting midway through the season with the same record wouldn't be enough to get the Astros' crowd riled up. Horton was also pitching on the night of the return of two former World Series champions in Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly, who joined the Cubs this offseason from the Astros.
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It was an emotional night all around, and Horton happened to be the guy on the bump for the Cubs.
However, Counsell seems confident his young pitcher will bounce back and be better next time out. The only other time Horton gave up four or more runs in an outing this season, the following start, he bounced back, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings.
The Cubs and Astros will play the second game of their weekend series Saturday in Houston at 6:15 p.m. on FOX.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.