Cade Horton already possesses some background information on the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs chosen Horton, a right-hander out of Oklahoma, with the No. 7 choose within the MLB draft. One of Horton’s first calls Sunday night time as a member of the group went to Cubs prospect Ed Howard.
Horton saved in contact with Howard after enjoying collectively in MLB’s Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP) League throughout the summer time earlier than their junior 12 months of highschool. They nearly reunited in school. Howard dedicated to Oklahoma earlier than signing with the Cubs because the sixteenth choose in 2020.
Going into the draft, Horton mentioned the Cubs had been “definitely on the radar.” He watched the draft together with his household and highschool and school teammates at his residence in Norman, Okla.
“It’s crazy. It doesn’t feel real,” Horton mentioned Sunday night time on a video convention name. “I’m just so blessed to be in this position and ready to get to work.”
When the second arrived for the Cubs to make their first-round choose, they may have opted for one of many high obtainable hitters. They as a substitute went with Horton.
“Throughout the year we noticed that there were some pitchers that ended up standing out and maybe changing that narrative a little bit in terms of it being a high school hitter-heavy draft,” Cubs vice chairman of scouting Dan Kantrovitz mentioned on a video name Sunday night time. “The industry might have thought a little bit differently in terms of, at the end of the spring, what the strength ended up being.”
When Horton was deciding whether or not to go professional out of highschool in 2020, Kantrovitz and the Cubs had been one of many groups to make a house go to earlier than the pandemic. When Kantrovitz known as to congratulate Horton on Sunday night time, he requested if Horton remembered that go to greater than two years in the past. Horton replied, “Of course.”
“It was nice to hear that and to have that connection remain intact,” Kantrovitz mentioned. “Building the history of a player like that also gave us confidence that we had a pretty good handle on his makeup as well.”
Horton is the Cubs’ highest draft choose since they took Kyle Schwarber with the fourth choose in 2014. The Cubs beforehand picked at No. 7 twice: In 1974 they drafted outfielder Scot Thompson (626 major-league video games, minus-5.7 WAR, third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1979) and in 1976 they took right-hander Herman Segelke (three video games, minus-0.1 WAR).
Baseball America ranked Horton the Twenty third-best participant within the draft, whereas MLB.com ranked him twenty fourth. Horton seems to be an underslot choose — No. 7 is valued at $5,708,000 — during which the Cubs get monetary savings to make use of on different gamers.
Kantrovitz indicated the Cubs focused Horton and second-round choose (No. 47) Jackson Ferris, a left-hander from IMG Academy in Florida, in order that they doubtlessly may unfold round bonus pool cash.
“It ended up coming to fruition,” Kantrovitz mentioned.
Before the draft, Kantrovitz known as the Cubs’ bonus pool determine “exciting” and anticipated it to provide the group “ammunition” to land a number of the higher gamers within the high 10 rounds.
The Cubs have the Tenth-highest bonus pool ($10,092,700).
“Now we have to try to figure out how we’re going to optimize our entire draft,” Kantrovitz mentioned final week. “That plays into the calculus of each pick. Who we’re going to pick, how much we’re going to pay them. And at the end of the day, we want to have the best draft we can based on, hopefully, having signed 20 players. But that has to be in the context of the overall pool.”
Ferris, 18, transferred to IMG Academy earlier than his junior 12 months and is coming off a senior season during which he had a 1.33 ERA (eight earned runs in 54⅓ innings) in 10 outings. The 6-foot-4 lefty struck out 103 hitters for 17.1 strikeouts per 9 innings whereas holding opponents to a .142 batting common and a .203 on-base share.
Baseball America rated Ferris, an Ole Miss signee, because the No. 34 prospect within the draft, and MLB.com had him at No. 19. Kantrovitz doesn’t anticipate any signability points with Ferris.
“Jackson is unique in the sense that he’s got a four-pitch mix right now, and he throws them all in a game,” Kantrovitz mentioned.
The emergence of a slider towards the top of the 2022 season turned a sport changer for Horton. He first showcased it throughout the Big 12 Tournament and noticed his utilization generate extra whiffs and strikeouts.
Horton, who turns 21 subsequent month, had Tommy John surgical procedure in 2021 earlier than his freshman season at Oklahoma. As a redshirt freshman this 12 months, he posted a 4.86 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 64 strikeouts and 15 walks in 53⅔ innings over 14 video games (11 begins).
“Adversity makes us who we are, and I think the biggest thing I learned is how to be a good teammate,” Horton mentioned of going by the surgical procedure. “I’ve always been the guy that has never really sat on the bench. I’ve always been out there playing, and that injury forced me to sit on the bench and so I had to learn how to keep the other guys going when things weren’t going so well.”
The Sooners made the finals of this 12 months’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb. Horton impressed in Game 2 in opposition to eventual champion Ole Miss, permitting two runs and 4 hits in 7⅓ innings with no walks and 13 strikeouts in a 4-2 loss.
“It’s awesome to be able to be on that stage,” Horton mentioned. “You talk about adrenaline and I wanted to calm myself down more than anything just so I could focus on taking it one pitch at a time and just hitting a target and focusing on what I wanted to do on that certain pitch.”
Horton additionally appeared in 50 video games for Oklahoma as a hitter, together with 25 begins at third base, 4 at shortstop and 11 because the designated hitter. He believes his expertise enjoying the infield helps him maintain runners on base and perceive how arduous it’s to hit.
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com