Cade Horton’s progression is playing out in real time.

The Chicago Cubs’ respected pitching prospect has made three big-league appearances and shown improvement in each one. Wednesday’s outing was his best.

Horton allowed only one run over 5.1 innings, conceding six hits and three walks, in a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins. He also had three strikeouts.

Horton was in some trouble early, but he generally worked his way out of it, getting stronger as his outing progressed. He retired eight of his last nine batters before Cubs manager Craig Counsell pulled him after his 92^nd pitch with one out in the sixth.

“He kept making pitches, and I thought he got strong as the game went (on) and got confident as the game went on,” Counsell told reporters after the game at loanDepot Park. “In the first couple innings, he had to make some stressful pitches, and he did so. Good sign. I thought it was an impressive start. He got into the sixth inning. I thought he did a really nice job.”

Horton indeed did a nice job in difficult spots. He did a nice job of avoiding hard contact. He did a nice job of making adjustments. That was especially true of his changeup.

Horton threw the changeup just 3.8 percent of the time in his first two big-league games, per Baseball Savant. He threw it 20 percent of the time Wednesday, and to great effect.

“I had a good feeling for it, so I started relying on it,” Horton told reporters. “Some days are going to be like that. They weren’t swinging much at the slider, so you’ve got to find another pitch to get them out on. It came up huge for me.”

He threw 18 changeups and generated nine swings and misses. Overall, he had 16 of them, generating a 34.8 percent whiff rate.

Horton gave himself a project between his last start and this one: get the slider to break through the outside part of the strike zone. It still was too far toward the middle, but he found a pitch mix that worked well for him by using a curveball a bit.

The changeup, though, was the star of the day.

“He threw it a little bit more — he threw it to a righty, actually — so it’s some confidence and know that, as you go through these lineups, a third pitch is really important,” Counsell said. “He needs it.”

Horton needs to continue progressing, but Wednesday’s outing clearly was a confidence-builder. Matt Shaw should know. The Cubs’ rookie third baseman has played with Horton in the minors and considers him a good friend.

Shaw enjoying seeing this outing firsthand and knows what it means to have early success. Each positive performance creates a sense of belonging in the major leagues, which is vital to staying there.

“He pitched an amazing game,” Shaw told reporters. “He had some moments where he stepped up big and threw great pitches. I think his changeup was really, really good today. That’s something he has been working really hard on, so it was a great day for him.

“It’s a similar situation (to me), where he’s building his confidence every day he gets out there. It’s exciting to be able to do it together, to be really good friends and experience all this together.”