Cade Horton allowed six hits and four runs with two walks and five strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the Twins on Wednesday.
The lack of useful options in Horton’s repertoire has come back to bite him a bit during his last few starts. Here, he got caught struggling to spot his changeups against left-handed batters. That’s the only pitch he usually has for them besides his fastball and a smattering of curveballs. So, he got caught in a few too many long at-bats which drove up his pitch count and wound up hanging a 1-2 sweeper in the heart of the plate to Matt Wallner which he crushed for a home run. Still, he managed to force an impressive 19 swings-and-misses and at least three with four different pitches. The stuff is there, Horton just needs more refinement. That should come with time.