Why Cade Horton Should Win NL Rookie of the Year

The MLB Awards season get into full swing on Monday with the announcement of both the American League and National League Rookies of the Year.

Since it is the National League that has a tie to the Sooner State, that is the one I am watching and have the biggest opinion.

Now, before I go any farther, I do need to inform you all that I may (may) have a bias when I say that Cade Horton should win the Rookie of the Year Award for the National League.

When Cade was a senior at Norman High, my twins boys were sophomores on the same Tiger team with Cade. As one of my boys said to me after an intersquad game where Cade pitched, “I made him look real good in front of those scouts.”

This was the Spring of 2020, the Covid shortened season, so I was able to see Cade pitch and play up close in a couple of scrimmages and 5 regular season games before the season was canceled. You could even tell back then the arm talent he had, but I can attest while he still has the same physical attributes, Cade is a true pitcher now.

I am also a Sooners fan so those magical postseason starts he had in the Sooners’ run to the championship series in 2022 will be something I won’t soon forget.

But perhaps the biggest reason why I may be biased is the fact I am one of the biggest Chicago Cubs fans you will ever see. I am such a big fan that my then 15 year old daughter says the first time she ever saw me cry was when the Cubs won the 2016 World Series.

I have watched every outing that Cade pitched in 2025 so I think I have a solid understanding on how his season went.

Having said all that, I honestly thing that Cade Horton should be named the NL Rookie of the Year and I’ll show you why.

The Other Finalists

Caleb Durbin, 3B (Milwaukee Brewers)

2025 stats: WAR 2.8, G 136, .256/.334/.387, 11 HR, 53 RBI

Durbin had a really nice season for the Brewers and was one of several rookies that made an impact on the team that had the best record in the National League. While he had a nice season, I wouldn’t say that his season was good enough or that much better than other rookies to win the award. For example, my Cubs had a rookie at 3B (Matt Shaw) that had a season that wasn’t too much worse than Durbin’s. Shaw played less games but had a higher WAR (3.1), more HRs (13) and a higher SLG% (.394).

Drake Baldwin, C (Atlanta Braves)

2025 stats: WAR 3.3, .274/.341/.469, 19 HR, 80 RBI

Baldwin is probably Horton’s biggest competition in winning the award. In fact, Baldwin won the player’s vote for Rookie of the Year over Horton (Horton was The Sporting News Rookie of the Year over Durbin).

Durbin won a spot on the Braves’ roster out of Spring Training and was the best offensive rookie in the National League throughout the season. He started 97 games behind the plate for the Braves an played in 124 total.

A knock against Durbin is the fact the Braves were no where near being in a pennant race this season, so his impact on a postseason contender wasn’t there like the other two candidates.

The Case for Cade Horton

2025 stats: WAR 2.0, G 23/GS 22, 11-4, 2.67, 118 IP, 95 H, 33 BB, 97 K

Coming into the season, Horton started the season in the Minors after spending time with the Cubs in Spring Training. The thought was Horton would be called up in the middle of the season. However, due to a season ending injury to Justin Steele, and other injuries in the rotation, Horton was called up sooner than planned on May 10 in New York.

While Horton was a little up and down in his first 2 months, his 2.67 ERA and had 11 wins were both the most for rookie pitchers.

It isn’t just the overall numbers for Horton that should make him the Rookie of the Year, it is the context in which he did them. After a start on June 27 against the Astros where he gave up 7 earned runs in 4 innings, Horton’s ERA was up to 4.80. What he did from that start on gave the Cubs a chance to make the postseason. Horton lowered his ERA over 2 runs since that start including a 1.03 over his last 12 starts.

The Cubs were not a good offensive team after the All Star Break, but when Horton pitched, he was just about as automatic as any pitcher in baseball. With Steele out for the season, Shota Imanaga giving up bombs the last 2 months, Jameson Tallion on the IL for a few weeks, and Matthew Boyd cooling off after a hot start, Horton was THE ACE of the Cubs’ staff as they made the postseason.

Also, I know that the Rookie of the Year is a regular season award and is voted upon before the start of the postseason, but the fact that Horton wasn’t able to pitch in the postseason as the Cubs’ starters struggled, shows why he was more important than any pitcher as a rookie.

One more thing to consider, Horton had the 4th lowest of any rookie who made at least 20 start in the Wild Card era. The other 3: Hideo Nomo, Paul Skenes, Jose Fernandez, all won NL Rookie of the Year.

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