Cade Horton ‘Had Tears in His Eyes’ After Exiting Early with Forearm Discomfort

Cade Horton left Friday’s start in the second inning after calling for trainer Nick Frangella following a fastball that came in about two ticks below his season average. The Cubs are calling it right forearm discomfort, but Marquee’s Taylor McGregor noted that the righty had tears in his eyes as he headed to the clubhouse. Forearm issues are often either precursors of or euphemisms for UCL issues, and Horton has previously undergone Tommy John surgery. When combined with the velo dip, it’s hard to be optimistic about the eventual diagnosis.

Cade Horton has exited today’s game. pic.twitter.com/SGTWCffI6c

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 3, 2026

We knew the Cubs’ pitching depth would be tested at some point this season, but the possibility of it happening right away with the pitcher expected to be their ace is not great. That would mark the second year in a row they’ve suffered such a loss, with Justin Steele going down to an elbow injury in his fourth start of 2025. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that losing Horton early — if this is indeed a season-ender — means the Cubs have more time to adjust.

Steele could return by late May, Edward Cabrera looks as good as advertised so far, and Matthew Boyd has gotten 20 whiffs in each of his first two starts (per Christopher Kamka, no Cubs pitcher did that once last year). None of that makes up for the possible loss of Horton, but this team was built to weather a storm or two. The roster was also built to be competitive for years to come, so Horton will still have a chance to be an impact arm down the road.

More to come.

Update: Craig Counsell said after the game that Horton will return to Chicago for imaging, and that this will result an IL stint. Horton’s pain began in his wrist before becoming forearm tightness, so it was a matter of precaution. The team is approaching this with what appears to be optimism, but it’s not as though they’re going to panic publicly right out of the gate.

“I had some tightness in my wrist,” Horton told reporters after the game. “And then, as the game went on, started to move into my forearm. And so I just wanted to err on the cautious side and really not try to hurt anything else.”

Fingers crossed that his “mature decision” is indeed just a matter of caution.