CHICAGO — It’s fair for Cubs fans to wonder where the team will turn for rotation help after Justin Steele’s season-ending elbow surgery.

It’s a bit premature to really speculate on trades — they’re “highly unusual” at this time of year, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said during the homestand.

But throw in right-hander Ben Brown’s struggles — he’s picked up more than 12 outs in only one of four starts this month and was yanked after 3.2 innings Saturday, after which Cubs manager Craig Counsell said, “We need better, frankly” — and curiosity about rotation help increases.

OK, so if external help is unlikely, could that aid come internally?

At Triple-A Iowa, top pitching prospect Cade Horton, the No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft, has a 1.06 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP in 17 innings with 23 strikeouts. He was destined for a major-league debut in 2024, but a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder curtailed his season and dreams of reaching the bigs.

Horton is looking strong, and some underlying data suggests it, too. The right-hander topped out at 95.7 mph on his four-seam fastball in his final start before injuries last season, and he averaged just 94.4 mph on the pitch in that outing. In his last start on April 23, Horton maxed out at 98 mph and averaged 96.3 mph on the heater.

So, could Horton help the Cubs’ rotation soon?

“I think it’s a little soon. … Cade, he’s coming off a serious injury,” Counsell said before Sunday’s finale against the Philadelphia Phillies. “It’s April still, and I think it’s important that he has both a physical foundation and a foundation of success.

“And we’re building that right now, and he’s building that right now, and he’s doing a great job of it. But we’re early in the process.”

So, the Cubs don’t seem to be in a rush to promote Horton, despite his hot start. He’s logged just 139.2 innings in his professional career, underwent Tommy John surgery in college and pitched 34.1 innings last season.

“There’s absolutely things that he needs to keep improving on,” Counsell said. “And those are going to be important. And some of those things, they don’t necessarily show up in Triple-A, and they’ll show up immediately here.”

That doesn’t mean he’s destined to spend this season in Des Moines.

“I think there’s no question, a healthy Cade Horton, he’s going to impact this team,” Counsell said.

For now, though, the Cubs are sticking with their rotation. They haven’t announced their starters for the three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates that begins Tuesday, but Counsell and the Cubs will ride with the five-man group of Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon, Colin Rea and Brown.

The Cubs believe Brown can still turn things around — he did shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers over six innings on April 12, after all.

“He’s capable of succeeding in this league,” Counsell said. “And we saw last year what he’s capable of doing.

“We got to keep working on it and it’s a young starter, and he’s going to learn from every time he goes out and get better from it.”