Cade Horton

Assuming Horton, who had Tommy John surgery in 2021 while at Oklahoma, stayed healthy and showed similar stuff to what he displayed in the 2022 College World Series, he figured to rank as one of the game's top pitching prospects after his first full season, and that's exactly where things stand. The 6-foot-1 righty boasts a mid-90s fastball that regularly touches 98 mph. He also has one of the best sliders in the minors -- a high-spin mid-80s offering. He throws a changeup and curveball, but he doesn't need those pitches much to dominate when he's locating his fastball. Horton tallied 88.1 innings in 21 starts across Single-A, High-A and Double-A. He spent over half the season at High-A, where he had three blowup starts and still managed a 1.00 WHIP and 3.83 ERA. Horton had a seven-start stretch to close the year where he had a 1.16 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 31 innings. He also had a six-start run in the first half at High-A where he had a 1.30 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP with 46 strikeouts in 27.2 innings. We're still waiting to see if he can handle a big-league starter's workload, but Horton has the stuff to dominate at the highest level. Last year, we saw many teams push upper-level pitchers of Horton's caliber to the big leagues quicker than in past years, so a first-half MLB debut could happen for Horton. Read Past Outlooks