Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Is Cade Horton the Next Big Surprise, or Are Kershaw and Pederson Set to Steal the Show?

Aside from that, Horton’s flaws come down to control and his flyball tendencies. The former issue should go away with experience, but the latter problem is getting worse as he continues to eschew his changeup. In Triple-A this year, Horton is sporting just a 31% groundball rate. Most of the flyballs against him haven’t been hit very hard, but major leaguer hitters are sure to fare better there.

Horton probably isn’t up for good just yet. If his performance warrants, the Cubs will certainly consider going forward with him after Imanaga returns, but even if he sticks initially, he might not show enough consistency to avoid a return trip to the International League later. I do think it’s a good idea to grab him now in mixed leagues; it’d be risky to play him against the Mets but a likely second start against the White Sox is plenty tasty. He’s not a finished product, but if he immediately gets his walk rate down in the majors — which is something that happens now as pitchers benefit from getting away from the prying eyes of the ABS system — he could be a difference maker.

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