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As summer turns to autumn and a long-lost baseball season approaches its conclusion, the Nationals must cling to whatever bright spots remain. And there may be no bigger bright spot the rest of this month than the one that continues to follow Cade Cavalli nearly every time he takes the mound.
Cavalli has been far from perfect, and his most recent start at Yankee Stadium was downright ugly, but there still has been far more good than bad from the finally-healthy right-hander. And there was a lot of good tonight during the Nats’ 5-2 victory over the Marlins.
Bouncing back nicely from that seven-run, four-homer barrage in the Bronx last week, Cavalli shut down Miami’s lineup over five strong innings, a 75-pitch outing that probably could have continued if not for the team’s caution in extending the 26-year-old too much as his healthy-to-date season nears the finish line.
Cavalli’s efforts tonight – with some offensive help from James Wood (two-run homer), Daylen Lile (double, RBI single), Riley Adams (RBI double) and Jacob Young (2-for-2, RBI, stolen base) – earned him his second career win in his seventh career start.
Don’t let the lack of victories, though, overshadow Cavalli’s true performance so far. He has now allowed three or fewer runs in four of his six starts this season. He has notched 28 strikeouts and only eight walks in 29 2/3 innings.
"First of all, let me say, Cade is a dawg on the mound," Lile said. "He's a special player. Everything he does, from what he does to get ready for the game and then translating into the game and this journey he's been on, to finally come back up here and do what he's doing, I'm very happy for him."
Above all else, Cavalli has proven himself healthy at last, some 2 1/2 years removed from the March 2023 Tommy John surgery that threatened to ruin his career. Maybe the most important stat he has produced this season is the number of innings he has totaled between the minors and majors: 101 2/3. With perhaps four or five more starts on the docket, he has a good chance of entering the offseason having set a solid bar to exceed in 2026.
"That's huge," he said. "We all want to stay healthy. That's the goal. If I can make that happen ... I'm going to be very grateful for it."
Cavalli was on point from the get-go tonight, taking advantage of a relatively weak Marlins lineup that went down in order on 11 pitches in the top of the first. He had to pitch his way out of a jam in the second, but did so by inducing a 5-4-3 double play out of Heribito Hernández.
"That was huge," he said. "As soon as the bases loaded happened, I'm like, alright. In my mind, let's get a ground ball. And I just felt like we manifested it. Riley called a great pitch, I was able to execute. ... That was amazing."
Cavalli struck out a pair in the third, his fastball topping out at 99 mph. And though he did get charged with two runs allowed in the fourth, it wasn’t exactly the byproduct of a bunch of loud contact. That inning included a walk, an uncompleted 3-6-3 double play, a soft grounder through the infield for a single, a wild pitch and a two-run single with a poorly executed relay.
No matter, because Cavalli shrugged it all off and retired the last five batters he faced, three via strikeout. He walked off the mound at the end of the fifth after getting Jakob Marsee looking at a 97 mph fastball, and though his pitch count was still modest at 75, he was informed his night was over. He’ll get another chance to face this same lineup next week in Miami.
"Of course, the first thing is to make sure he's healthy, make sure he's feeling strong," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "And if he gives us five or six, it will be awesome."
The Nationals supplied their starter with ample run support, getting offensive contributions from a number of members of the lineup for a change. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second thanks to back-to-back doubles by Lile and Adams, a gift of an error by Marlins third baseman Connor Norby (who lost the ball trying to tag Adams running from second to third) and an RBI single by Young.
Young would add another single and a stolen base in the fourth, but he would depart prior to the sixth inning, replaced in center field by Robert Hassell III. According to the Nationals, Young was removed with back spasms.
The big blow of the game came moments after Young’s second hit. Wood entered the evening with a soaring strikeout total, including three more Monday afternoon. He sought to counteract that with a more aggressive approach this time, putting the first pitch in play in each of his first two at-bats, one of them a single to right, the other a double play grounder to second.
Wood finally turned patient in his third at-bat, though, working the count to 2-2 and fouling off a couple of pitches on the outside corner, waiting for one he liked better. And sure enough, he got one when Marlins starter Adam Mazur left a 95 mph fastball up and over the plate. Wood did what he does best and drove the ball the other way for his 27th homer of the season, giving the Nats another bright spot to enjoy in this final month of a lost year.
"I think it's a good sign," Wood said. "I've been working through some things, trying to figure some stuff out. I feel like that's always a good sign, being able to drive one that way like that. For me, especially, that shows me I'm in a spot I want to be at."
And speaking of bright spots, the Nationals bullpen has turned into a most unexpected strength in recent weeks. With another spotless showing tonight after Cavalli departed, this relief corps has now combined for 17 scoreless innings over the last four days, allowing only two hits and four walks while striking out 21.
"They're doing great," Cavalli said. "They're just shutdown. Every guy that runs out there, we have confidence in. It's a great feeling whenever you can come out of a game, hand the ball off to somebody and know that you have a great chance at having a scoreless inning."
