CHICAGO — Like every Cubs fan watching Wednesday night’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves, Cade Horton wanted to go back out for another inning.

Who wouldn’t when they’re carrying a no-hit bid through five frames?

Of course, he knew his answer, but it was worth the query, either way.

“Just tell them, ‘Hey, give me one more,’” the Cubs rookie said after Wednesday night’s 5-1 loss to Atlanta at Wrigley Field. “And it’s always no, but at least I tried.”

Cubs manager Craig Counsell and the rest of his coaching staff don’t hate baseball history or want to spoil a chance for fans to see something unique. Counsell and the organization have a grander view than just Wednesday’s outing for their young phenom.

They’re not focused on having Horton throw a nine-inning no-hitter or see how far he can take the bid. Instead, they’re trying to keep him healthy for the next two months — and long-term.

And they’re doing that by limiting his workload as much as they can, keeping him around 70 pitches an outing and hoping that preserving bullets in early September will lead to better shots of winning in October.

Horton is dominating big-league hitters right now, posting a 0.77 ERA and 0.81 WHIP in nine starts since the All-Star break and has arguably made himself the best starter on a staff that has been baseball’s best rotation in that span. Despite that, the Cubs are trying to keep the young arm healthy for the long run, because he’s in uncharted waters – both as a rookie and health-wise.

He’s thrown 131.2 innings across the majors and Triple-A this season, more innings than he threw in his first two seasons in the minor leagues combined in 2023 and 2024.

“In the big picture, he’s probably got four or five regular-season starts left,” Counsell said after the game. “You’re hoping he’s got another four to five starts more after that. That could be eight to 10 more starts. That’s 40 to 50 more innings. That innings number could get pretty high.

“So we’re going to make sure that he is properly taken care of, and that’s not going to change.”

Instead of telling him they’re putting training wheels on him, they’ve used the workload management as a challenge to try and unlock the best version of him.

“We’ve made some adjustments and told him we were going to off some starts and make sure he stayed fresh through the end of the season, and he took that as a challenge to be like, ‘All right, you’re going to give me 70 pitches, let’s see how far I can go into games,’” pitching coach Tommy Hottovy told Taylor McGregor before the game. “And you’re seeing him go six innings on 70, 75 pitches.”

He’s doing that by attacking the zone with an arsenal that can keep hitters at bay.

“Because he’s nasty,” Cubs catcher Reese McGuire said. “He’s got the fastball moving at 97 [mph] with the cut on it, and he’s constantly pounding the strike zone, coming right after hitters.

“We’re 0-1 in a lot of counts, so we’re able to use all of his weapons right away — get right to his nasty slider and the changeup.”

And when things don’t go his way, he doesn’t panic or let the moment become too big. He learned what happens when he does that the hard way. In Houston in June, a rowdy, playoff-like environment got the best of him, and he allowed seven earned runs on eight hits in four innings of work.

Things looked like they could get testy early on Wednesday. With one out in the first inning, Matt Olson grinded out a 10-pitch walk, eating a massive chunk of Horton’s 75-pitch limit.

“If I end up walking him, so be it, I can get the next guy,” Horton said. “I’ve already got the lead off guy out, so now I need a ground ball, and we’re in a good spot. So just continuing to trust it and build off of it.”

Horton picked up the final two outs of the frame on his next five pitches and retired 14 straight hitters to end his outing. He wanted to make the most of his bullets and, like the Cubs, continue to prioritize the long-term even if it means he can’t chase a no-no.

“I know at the end of the day, it’s not going to happen, and that’s all right,” Horton said. “I feel like I’d much rather be healthy for the postseason than go out there for the sixth or seventh in early September.”