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SEATTLE – Cade Cavalli is nothing more than a minor league pitcher these days, no longer injured, no longer rehabbing, just trying to earn his way back to the major leagues. The way he’s pitching, he’s starting to make a compelling case for a promotion to D.C.
Cavalli dominated over five innings today for Triple-A Rochester, shutting out Columbus on three hits and a walk while striking out 10. It was the latest, and best, outing for the Nationals’ 2020 first-round pick in his prolonged quest to return from Tommy John surgery more than two years ago.
“I saw the reports,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I heard he threw really well. Ten strikeouts in five innings, which is awesome. That’s great for us, as well.”
Cavalli, who made his one and only major league start in August 2022, had elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in March 2023 and has been trying to make it back ever since. He spent all of 2023 and 2024 on the big league injured list, plus the first 45 days of this season before the club deemed him healthy and optioned him to Triple-A (where he was already pitching on a rehab assignment).
Now that he’s on a regular throwing regimen, Cavalli seems to be finding a groove. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed two total runs across 14 innings, striking out 23 while issuing only three walks.
The only drawback? He’s been limited to fewer than 75 pitches in each of his outings so far. The Nationals are walking a tightrope balancing the need to keep him healthy and manage his workload while also understanding he’ll need to build up to a higher pitch count before he’s called up to the majors.
“We’d definitely like before he gets up here to get up to that 90-pitch mark, but he’s doing well right now as it is,” Martinez said. “If five days from now he’s ready to go again, I think the mark is set at 75 pitches again. If he goes 80, great. We’re at a point now where he just needs to go out there every five days and compete.”
With Trevor Williams (who starts tonight against the Mariners) sporting a 6.39 ERA and Mitchell Parker (who struggled Tuesday night) owning a 4.65 ERA, the Nats theoretically could make a case for promoting Cavalli sooner rather than later. But they’re still mindful of his workload restrictions after missing so much time. And they also may have to consider all the service time he accrued while on the major league IL: Despite making only one start in the majors, he already has 2 years, 86 days. If he accrues another 86 days before season’s end, he’ll be credited with three full years of service time, making him eligible for arbitration after the season and free agency after the 2028 season.
“We’re excited that he’s feeling good and he potentially has a chance to come up here and help us sometime in the near future,” Martinez said. “We’ve got to continue to ramp him up, build him, be smart about it and listen to him like we have been. As I said before, there’s going to be a time when we have to push him a little bit, just to get him over the fear. But he’s a competitor. He wants to come up here and help us win games.”
* Like Cavalli, Andrés Chaparro is now considered a healthy minor league player. The Nationals officially activated him off the 10-day IL this morning and optioned him to Rochester, where he already was playing on a rehab assignment.
The 26-year-old first baseman/DH had been out since mid-March when he suffered a left oblique strain during spring training. He began a rehab assignment two weeks ago, and in six games with Rochester so far is 6-for-21 with a double, a homer (hit today) and four RBIs.
With the Nationals having a dearth of right-handed bats at the moment, Chaparro could find his way up to the big league roster soon enough.
“We just want to make sure he gets his at-bats,” Martinez said. “I know he hit a home run, but we don’t know how many at-bats we’re going to give him. As long as he’s doing good and he’s healthy, that’s a great sign for us.”
* Kyle Finnegan is good to go if the Nationals need him in the ninth inning tonight. The veteran closer hasn’t pitched in six days due to shoulder fatigue, but he threw 12 pitches off the bullpen mound Tuesday afternoon and declared himself healthy and would’ve been used if the team held a late lead in the series opener.
* Derek Law threw 28 pitches in a bullpen session today, ramping up after slow period of throwing due to forearm inflammation at the end of spring training. The veteran reliever could be facing hitters after one more bullpen session, but the Nationals are going to continue to treat him as if he’s going through a full spring training workload before activating him off the IL.
