The Cubs have one of the top farm systems in all the majors with prospects who are waiting to make their major league debuts.

On the most recent episode of the Cubs Weekly Podcast with Tony Andracki, Andy Martínez and Lance Brozdowski, the panel discusses which Cubs prospects would make an impact when called up from the minors.

Brozdowski mentions the Cubs’ No. 2 prospect, Cade Horton, that can have a big impact in a variety of ways in 2025.

“The only one that I can see having an impact that is big enough to answer this question is Cade Horton,” Brozdowski said. “There was a lot of hope. He had a really good first year and then that second year was like, ‘Cool. This is the year he’s going to debut whether it be late in the season, he’ll have a postseason impact we were all hoping last season.’ And that didn’t happen.”

Horton suffered a subscapular injury that ended up shutting him down the rest of the 2024 season in Triple-A Iowa. As the young right-hander has pitched in two games in Cactus League action, Brozdowski believes Horton can refine his pitching and impact the big league roster late in the season.

“Next year is really the year where I think he can impact things and go maybe 130 to 140 innings, starting rotation breaks, etc., and it’s like ‘OK, that’s a piece. That is the future from a starting pitching standpoint,'” Brozdowski said. “For this season however, I think he could get into that starter role late depending on how aggressive they are pushing him from a workload standpoint.

“The alternative is that he can come out as a reliever and potentially be more of a leverage option late.”

If Horton receives the call up to the majors at any point this season, he could have an impact in a similar way that Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson took when they were called up back in 2021 according to Andracki.

[Meet ‘The Jaguar’: Cubs prospect Kevin Alcántara’s personality on full display]

“I don’t necessarily think he’ll make a bunch of starts but I think he can come up and be like an impact reliever,” Andracki said. “In today’s game, we just see that with young relievers that are like off the radar in some ways.

“Obviously, he’s on the radar just as a starter but I think that would be really fascinating if he comes up and makes an impact.”

While Horton has yet to make his big league debut, one player that Martínez mentioned had a small taste of the majors and hopes to make an impact at the plate as well as in the outfield.

“Kevin Alcántara had a cup of coffee so he had his major league debut. He’s a major leaguer, but in a way, he kind of hasn’t [fully debuted],” Martínez said. “I think there’s a world where he can come up.

“Kevin Alcántara really impressed in spring. He was the last cut in spring training on the trip to Japan. He could have been on that trip instead of Matt Shaw. That’s how highly they think of him. I think he’s the kind of player that if he’s tearing it up, he can easily come up and impact this team.”

“The Jaguar,” has been impressive in spring hitting .280/.333/.400 in 12 games during Cactus League action. He hit .292 after his call-up to Triple-A Iowa last year in 35 games and hopes to continue raking and eventually be called back up to the big leagues.

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