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Cubs pitcher Cade Horton delivers during a game. Horton is facing a second Tommy John surgery, raising questions about his return timeline.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Cade Horton is expected to miss significant time after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery Thursday. The Cubs right-hander underwent his second Tommy John surgery on Thursday, and the team’s return timeline for Horton now stretches well into 2027, if he makes it back at all that season.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the procedure that Horton is looking at a recovery window of 15 to 16 months, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on X (formerly Twitter). With the surgery performed on April 16, a 15- to 16-month timeline puts a potential return somewhere between July and August 2027.

That means Horton will miss not just the rest of 2026 but a substantial chunk of next season as well. Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network confirmed that the operation was, in fact, the full Tommy John procedure, not the shorter-recovery internal brace option.

The distinction makes a big difference. The internal brace surgery typically carries a recovery timeline of roughly 6 to 9 months, which would have offered at least a slim chance of a late-2026 return. The full UCL reconstruction Horton underwent eliminates that possibility, as Bleacher Nation reported Friday.

Horton’s Second Tommy John Surgery: What Recovery Looks Like

For pitchers who undergo a standard Tommy John procedure, the road back is a long one. Most face 12 to 18 months before returning to game action, with the first several months devoted entirely to protecting the reconstructed ligament while it heals. A full return to pitching off a mound typically doesn’t come until after nine months or even a full year. Building back to competitive readiness takes additional time, as a Yahoo Sports report explained.

This is Horton’s second time through the surgery and its rehab. He first tore his right UCL prior to his freshman season at the University of Oklahoma in 2021. He spent that year rehabbing rather than pitching and returned to the mound the following spring, eventually earning the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft from the Cubs after a dominant run through the College World Series.

The Cubs and their fans must now hope Horton’s results mirror the post-surgery comeback he produced at Oklahoma rather than the cautionary tale that a second major elbow procedure can represent for a young pitcher’s long-term health.

Cubs’ Outlook With Horton on the Mend

The timing of Horton’s injury arrival could hardly have been worse. He had posted a 2.45 ERA across two starts in 2026 before exiting his April 4 start in Cleveland with right forearm tightness. The Cubs placed him on the 15-day injured list that same night. An MRI came back, in the words of ESPN’s Rogers, citing multiple sources, as “not clean,” and a visit to Tommy John specialist Dr. Keith Meister in Texas ultimately confirmed the severity.

Horton was coming off a stellar 2025 rookie campaign in which he posted an 11-4 record with a 2.67 ERA across 22 starts and finished runner-up in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He was widely considered the ace of Chicago’s rotation going forward.

A Cubs organization that carefully rationed Horton’s innings during his rookie year now faces the prospect of its ace missing a combined total of nearly two full seasons. The Sporting News reported the Cubs are officially targeting a 2027 return for Horton. Whether he arrives in April or August of that year, or at his full pre-injury form, will not be known until then.