Cade Cavalli returns to the mound tonight, an encouraging development for the rehabbing right-hander and the Nationals, who were holding their breath after he departed his last start with fatigue.

Ten days after throwing only 37 pitches in two innings for Triple-A Rochester, Cavalli is back starting for the Red Wings tonight against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Nats believe the brief layoff won’t disrupt his overall rehab program.

“We’re going to let him go, see how far he can go,” manager Davey Martinez said. “There’s no limitations. He just had 10 days off. I know he threw two bullpens in between then, but we’ll see how he does today. We’re going to let him go, and see how far he can go.”

Cavalli, ostensibly in the final stages of rehab from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery, made three rehab starts in April, dominating at Single-A Fredericksburg and Double-A Harrisburg to the tune of nine scoreless innings. He then moved up to Triple-A for an April 29 start and gave up three runs over two innings, leaving the game early complaining of fatigue.

The Nationals decided to have Cavalli skip his next start and instead throw a couple of bullpen sessions in the interim. They found no cause for concern injury-wise and are confident the 2020 first-round pick will pick up right where he left off and wrap up his rehab stint as planned in the coming weeks.

“I think he really just felt like he got tired,” Martinez said. “It’s good for him to realize: ‘Something’s not right, I’m going to pull myself.’ But regardless of what it was, physically everything’s going. He was able to come back, throw his bullpens and now he gets to compete today. As we all know with Tommy John, guys come out of it differently. I’m glad he’s throwing 95-98, and when he’s ready to come up and pitch, believe me, he’ll be up here ready to help us win games.”

* The Nationals will see some encouraging developments from a couple of injured relievers this week.

Orlando Ribalta is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Saturday, the first time he’s pitched off a mound since landing on the 15-day IL with a right biceps strain April 10.

Ribalta is scheduled to throw 20-25 pitches, all fastballs. As he continues to progress, he’ll eventually face live hitters and then pitch in minor league games before coming off the IL.

Derek Law is also in line to throw off a mound this week for the first time in weeks. Law, who opened the season on the 15-day IL with right forearm inflammation, initially believed he’d be ready to go when eligible to be activated but continued to struggle to recover from his throwing sessions and had to be shut down.

Law is now starting the whole throwing program over, essentially repeating spring training, which means he could still be 1-2 months away from returning.