When went under the knife for UCL revision surgery last month, ending his 2025 season early, the pre sure of carrying the load at the front of the Cubs rotation went from being shared between two All-Star southpaws to falling entirely on the shoulders of . Imanagas first eight starts of the year have generally gone quite well, as hes pitched to a 2.82 ERA despite his peripherals regre sing significantly (4.52 FIP, 4.69 SIERA) relative to last years dominant rookie campaign. Unfortunately, his own season was at least temporarily derailed yesterday when Chicago placed him on the injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Fortunately, the Cubs and Imanaga appear to view the strain as a fairly mild one. Manager suggested during his postgame interview yesterday ( ) that the outcome was pretty good news and that it was at least po sible that Imanaga wouldnt take much longer than a minimum stay on the shelf to recover. Even so, another starter will be needed to join , , , and in the rotation. Perhaps the Cubs need look no further than the hurler at Triple-A who was already on the same schedule as Imanaga prior to the injury. Top pitching prospect , selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, has been nothing short of dominant so far this year. A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Horton has made six starts for the clubs Iowa Mike Cuellar Jersey affiliate this year and has posted a sparkling 1.24 ERA in that time with a strikeout rate of 30.6%. Its the sort of dominance that will naturally lead to fans calling for a big league debut, and those calls have only grown louder in the aftermath of Imanagas injury. Its hard to argue any pitcher currently on the big league roster has a higher ceiling than Horton, who sports a mid-90s fastball that touches 98 and a plus slider as part of a strong four-pitch mix. For his part, Counsell told reporters (including ) that Horton is an option to replace Imanaga in the rotation. With that being said, Counsell also noted that veteran right-hander remains stretched out after recently having his contract selected from Triple-A ahead of a uniform opt-out opportunity in his contract on May 1. Flexen threw 54 pitches in three scorele s relief innings last week and sported a 1.16 ERA with a 22.3% strikeout rate in 23 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A before his contract was selected. A veteran of eight MLB seasons who also briefly pitched for the KBO Leagues Doosan Bears, Flexen has generally been a roughly average swingman since he returned from South Korea with a 4.56 ERA (90 ERA+) in 582 2/3 innings of work. His numbers fell off substantially over the past two years, but its hard to deny that hes looked impre sive since joining Chicago on a minor league deal. Still, theres no question that Horton is the more talented pitcher with much higher upside. Horton seems likely to have a very succe sful career with the Cubs in the coming years, but there are other considerations that could tip the scale towards Flexen. The Cubs bullpen, which ranks bottom ten in the majors with a 4.37 ERA, has already been stretched somewhat by short starts from Rea and Brown this year. Horton would add another hurler who cant be expected to pitch deep into games to the rotation mix, seeing as hes maxed out at just 78 pitches this year. Flexen, meanwhile, has maxed out at 95 pitches and pitched into the sixth inning in three of his four full-length starts with Iowa. Hortons injury woes over the years, from Tommy John surgery in college to a subscapularis strain that cost him most of his 2024 season, have left the Cubs in a position where theyll need to carefully manage the talented right-handers innings this year. For a team with postseason aspirations, its fair to wonder if calling him up in early May is the right call when his electric arm may be needed come October. On the other hand, however, its worth noting that Horton did not throw a single pitch after May 29 last year. Health for a pitcher is never guaranteed, so its po sible the Cubs would be best off simply calling up Horton now while hes pitching well and figuring out how to manage his innings later by either shutting him down at some point this year or moving him to the bullpen. How do MLBTR readers think the Cubs should handle the vacancy in their rotation while Imanaga is out of commi sion? Should they turn to the high-upside prospect knocking on the door of the big leagues while hes healthy and pitching well, or instead opt to use Flexen in order to manage Hortons innings and preserve the bullpen? Have your say in the poll below: Who Should Fill In For Shota Imanaga? Cade Horton 70.18% (2,342votes) Chris Flexen 23.04% (769votes) someone else 6.77% (226votes) Total Votes: 3,337 Jason Castro Jersey
When went under the knife for UCL revision surgery last month, ending his 2025 season early, the pre sure of carrying the load at the front of the Cubs rotation went from being shared between two All-Star southpaws to falling entirely on the shoulders of . Imanagas first eight starts of the year have generally gone quite well, as hes pitched to a 2.82 ERA despite his peripherals regre sing significantly (4.52 FIP, 4.69 SIERA) relative to last years dominant rookie campaign. Unfortunately, his own season was at least temporarily derailed yesterday when Chicago placed him on the injured list due to a strained left hamstring. Fortunately, the Cubs and Imanaga appear to view the strain as a fairly mild one. Manager suggested during his postgame interview yesterday ( ) that the outcome was pretty good news and that it was at least po sible that Imanaga wouldnt take much longer than a minimum stay on the shelf to recover. Even so, another starter will be needed to join , , , and in the rotation. Perhaps the Cubs need look no further than the hurler at Triple-A who was already on the same schedule as Imanaga prior to the injury. Top pitching prospect , selected in the first round of the 2022 draft, has been nothing short of dominant so far this year. A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Horton has made six starts for the clubs Iowa Mike Cuellar Jersey affiliate this year and has posted a sparkling 1.24 ERA in that time with a strikeout rate of 30.6%. Its the sort of dominance that will naturally lead to fans calling for a big league debut, and those calls have only grown louder in the aftermath of Imanagas injury. Its hard to argue any pitcher currently on the big league roster has a higher ceiling than Horton, who sports a mid-90s fastball that touches 98 and a plus slider as part of a strong four-pitch mix. For his part, Counsell told reporters (including ) that Horton is an option to replace Imanaga in the rotation. With that being said, Counsell also noted that veteran right-hander remains stretched out after recently having his contract selected from Triple-A ahead of a uniform opt-out opportunity in his contract on May 1. Flexen threw 54 pitches in three scorele s relief innings last week and sported a 1.16 ERA with a 22.3% strikeout rate in 23 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A before his contract was selected. A veteran of eight MLB seasons who also briefly pitched for the KBO Leagues Doosan Bears, Flexen has generally been a roughly average swingman since he returned from South Korea with a 4.56 ERA (90 ERA+) in 582 2/3 innings of work. His numbers fell off substantially over the past two years, but its hard to deny that hes looked impre sive since joining Chicago on a minor league deal. Still, theres no question that Horton is the more talented pitcher with much higher upside. Horton seems likely to have a very succe sful career with the Cubs in the coming years, but there are other considerations that could tip the scale towards Flexen. The Cubs bullpen, which ranks bottom ten in the majors with a 4.37 ERA, has already been stretched somewhat by short starts from Rea and Brown this year. Horton would add another hurler who cant be expected to pitch deep into games to the rotation mix, seeing as hes maxed out at just 78 pitches this year. Flexen, meanwhile, has maxed out at 95 pitches and pitched into the sixth inning in three of his four full-length starts with Iowa. Hortons injury woes over the years, from Tommy John surgery in college to a subscapularis strain that cost him most of his 2024 season, have left the Cubs in a position where theyll need to carefully manage the talented right-handers innings this year. For a team with postseason aspirations, its fair to wonder if calling him up in early May is the right call when his electric arm may be needed come October. On the other hand, however, its worth noting that Horton did not throw a single pitch after May 29 last year. Health for a pitcher is never guaranteed, so its po sible the Cubs would be best off simply calling up Horton now while hes pitching well and figuring out how to manage his innings later by either shutting him down at some point this year or moving him to the bullpen. How do MLBTR readers think the Cubs should handle the vacancy in their rotation while Imanaga is out of commi sion? Should they turn to the high-upside prospect knocking on the door of the big leagues while hes healthy and pitching well, or instead opt to use Flexen in order to manage Hortons innings and preserve the bullpen? Have your say in the poll below: Who Should Fill In For Shota Imanaga? Cade Horton 70.18% (2,342votes) Chris Flexen 23.04% (769votes) someone else 6.77% (226votes) Total Votes: 3,337 Jason Castro Jersey