Mending his way back from Tommy John surgery in March 2023, Washington Nationals fourth overall prospect by ITD Cade Cavalli is making great strides in his rehab assignment. His first official rehab start took place on May 20 at the Florida Complex League pitching for the Nationals’ Rookie-level minor league affiliate. The right-hander tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless ball, striking out five and allowing only two batters from the Houston Astros FCL affiliate to reach base against him. Cavalli threw 44 pitches, which is the start of a base for him as he now builds his arm back up during the final stages of his rehab. His fastball topped out at 97 mph simply overmatched FCL hitters over 44 pitches. The one hit he gave up came off former AL MVP winner, Jose Abreu.
Cavalli (elbow) made his second rehab start last Thursday with Single-A Wilmington. He grinned out another 2.2 innings giving up two earned runs while striking out five. Though he did not give up a hit, he struggled with his control tallying up three walks, hitting a batter, and throwing two wild pitches. 30 of his 54 pitches were strikes. This is expected for a guy making his way back from a major elbow procedure, but as his assignment progresses he will look to iron it all out. Cavalli has also added a sinker to his arsenal and will continue to incorporate it with his other pitches as he tinkers out his repertoire.
Over the course of the next month, Cavalli will work his way up the organizational ladder, pitching for multiple minor league affiliates. The Nationals are now well within their 30-day window to decide whether Cavalli is ready to join the big-league rotation in mid-to-late June, but if the front office decides that he needs more time to get ready for the bigs he could be optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Either way, Cavalli should be back on the 26-man roster at some point this summer. Like many of the other top-named prospects within the Nationals farm that are simmering on the stove, Cavalli is no different. Manager Davey Martinez knows this more than anyone continent to practice patience on it all being a process:
“I think, right now, we love where he’s at. We’re in no big rush to try to get him here. We just want to continue to develop him. He’s going to be here, as we all know. But we want to make sure we continue the process with him, and that he’s able to go out there, compete and throw six-plus innings. And then we’ll see where he’s at from there.”
Cavalli, 25, has only made one major league start which was in August 2022. He was slated to make the Opening Day rotation in 2023 before suffering his injury during a spring training start against the Mets. These starts are big milestones or the organization’s top pitching prospect 15 months removed from a ligament replacement procedure. Extended time to recover and rehab has the Nats hopeful this process will ultimately benefit him. Cavalli intends to “be back fully” – being goal number one on the board this season. Crazy how much difference a year can make.
