Cade Horton moving forward with throwing as Cubs gather more information about his injury
The MRI on Cubs right-hander Cade Horton’s back/rib cage didn’t come back completely clean, manager Craig Counsell said. But the team is moving ahead with a throwing schedule that would allow Horton to pitch in the playoffs next week as long as he doesn't have any setbacks.
“Cade is on track still,” Counsell said. “There's some areas of concern in the ribs, in the MRI. We're going to continue to get more information on it and see where that leads us, use time on our side. But right now, Cade is a go.”
Horton isn’t scheduled for anymore testing, but the team plans to have another physician look at his imaging and give a second opinion. They’ll rely on Horton’s feedback as he progresses.
It’s unclear the exact source of the tightness and discomfort Horton has been experiencing, Counsell said, but the team still believes it originated with Horton’s coughing episodes while sick in Cincinnati last week.
“The reason we want to get as much information as you can is [we] want to make sure it's safe for Cade to go out there and pitch,” Counsell said. “He's adamant he can go pitch. We just want to make sure we’ve got all the information before we go out there, in obviously a big spot for everybody.”
Horton is scheduled to resume throwing Friday. He took two days off after exiting his start Tuesday due to the tightness in his rib cage while taking full breaths in between innings.
The Cubs are set to open a best-of-three wild card series against the Padres on Tuesday.
“Fortunately, it's not until next week,” Counsell said. “So that's why we want to make sure to use this time to let Cade tell us how he feels, let Cade show us how he feels, Consult with our doctors and let them make recommendations, and get the best decision we can make.”
The Cubs lined up their pitching this week so that Horton, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga could all reasonably pitch in any game of a best-of-three wild card series on regular or extra rest.
Horton’s injury adds a wrinkle to their plans. But they still have strong options to start.
Keep in mind, winning Game 1 is especially important in a short series. But if the Cubs lose the first game, pretty much every pitcher will be available in the must-win Game 2. And win or lose, the series isn’t guaranteed to go a full three games.
Boyd ended his regular season on a high note, holding the Mets to two hits and two runs through 5⅓ innings in the Cubs’ 10-3 win Wednesday.
“It was an important outing for Matthew,” Counsell said after the game. “... He just got himself into better counts today. Seemingly he was the one controlling the counts, and that's such a big difference for Matt.”
Boyd had wavered from that principle his previous two starts, as he allowed eight runs combined over eight innings. But on Wednesday, he was back to the version of himself that earned an All-Star this year nod for the first time in his career.
As Counsell took the ball away from him with one out in the sixth inning, the manager also congratulated the left-hander on a great regular season.
“I fought to stay in a little bit longer, but he told me, we have more starts in store,” Boyd said. “It was pretty cool.”
Imanaga put the finishing touches on his own regular season Thursday. In his second MLB season, he faced new challenges, including a strained hamstring that sidelined him for over seven weeks. And he still put together a strong campaign overall, his four-seam fastball at the top of the zone and splitter at the bottom still proving to be a devastating combination.