As the 2025 MLB regular season draws to a close, much of the conversation revolving around the league has centered on two topics: the upcoming postseason and awards.
The frontrunners for the National League’s top individual honors are already well-known — the MVP Award will likely be given to either Shohei Ohtani or Kyle Schwarber, while Paul Skenes is in pole position for the Cy Young Award. The race for the Rookie of the Year Award, on the other hand, has a larger number of first-year players (including the Chicago Cubs’ Cade Horton) with valid claims for the distinction.
Former general manager and The Athletic contributor Jim Bowden revealed on Sept. 17 who he believes will be named the National League’s Rookie of the Year.
Horton predicted to be runner-up in race for NL Rookie of the Year Award
Unfortunately for the Cubs organization, that player is not Horton. Instead, Bowden tabbed the Atlanta Braves’ Drake Baldwin as the top candidate for the award.
“I have Baldwin edging out Horton to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award mainly because Baldwin was in the big leagues from the beginning of the season to the end. He’s slashing .263/.337/.439 with 13 doubles, 16 home runs and 68 RBIs. He’s been just as impressive on the defensive side of the game, excelling in pitch calling, blocking and framing,” Bowden wrote.
“Horton should end up in second place based on his strong finish to the season. He made his major-league debut on May 10 and had a solid, but not spectacular, first half of the season, going 3-3 with a 4.45 ERA in 10 starts and one relief appearance. Since then, however, he has flat-out dominated, going 7-1 with a 0.84 ERA in 10 starts to make this a race.”
Horton has remained on the Cubs’ major-league roster since being called up and making his debut on May 10. Since then, he has made 22 appearances (including 21 starts) and emerged as one of the league’s top hurlers, pitching to a 11-4 record, 2.66 ERA, and 1.10 WHIP, in addition to earning 95 strikeouts and limiting opposing hitters to a .220 batting average, across 115 innings pitched.
