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On the (admittedly short) list of things to look forward to over the remainder of the Nationals’ season, the return of Dylan Crews from the injured list and the return of Cade Cavalli to the major leagues have to rank right near the top.
It’s been a frustrating summer for both former first round picks, both of them sidelined longer than initially hoped. And in both cases, the delay in rejoining the Nats’ big league roster has been cause for consternation.
Crews, who suffered a left oblique strain way back on May 20, does appear to be close to coming off the 60-day IL at long last. But he’s not quite there yet.
The 23-year-old outfielder began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester one week ago, and by all accounts things have gone well for him since. He has played in five games (four as the Red Wings’ right fielder, one as their DH) and he’s gone 3-for-13 with a double, a homer, four RBIs, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, three strikeouts and a stolen base. The homer and the double both came in his most recent game Sunday in Charlotte.
The issue: Crews hasn’t played more than six innings in a game yet, so he hasn’t fully built himself back up to full game-shape yet. We should learn more today about his next steps, but it would make sense for him to continue playing for Rochester (which opens a series tonight at Norfolk) for at least a few more days. Then the Nationals would have to decide if he’s ready to join them on their next trip to San Francisco and Kansas City, or if he still needs more time.
Cavalli, meanwhile, has long loomed as a candidate for promotion to the big league rotation, especially after the recent season-ending injury to Trevor Williams and the trade of Michael Soroka. But the 2020 first round pick simply has not performed well enough at Triple-A to convince club officials he’s ready for the promotion.
Now 2 1/2 years removed from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery, Cavalli is fully healthy by all accounts. The organization took the reins off him earlier this summer, and he has thrown at least 81 pitches in five of his last seven starts.
The problem: He has given up at least four runs in five of those seven starts, including each of his last three. He is racking up strikeouts (25 over his last 20 1/3 innings) but he also owns a 6.09 ERA and 1.554 WHIP in 15 total starts with Rochester this season. Hardly the kind of numbers that scream for a promotion.
Then again, the Nationals are running out of rotation options. They called up Shinnosuke Ogasawara over the weekend but have used him out of the bullpen so far. They are expected to call up Clayton Beeter (one of the two pitchers acquired from the Yankees in the Amed Rosario trade) today, but while he has been a starter through most of his minor league career, he’s only pitched in relief this season.
The Nats need someone to start Wednesday night’s game against the Athletics after MacKenzie Gore pitches tonight’s opener. Unless they’re willing to go with a straight bullpen game, Cavalli (who last pitched Thursday) might be their best option at this point.
Speaking of Soroka, the right-hander is already headed to the IL after one abbreviated start with the Cubs.
Soroka made his Chicago debut Monday night against the Reds but lasted only two innings, throwing only 31 pitches. He departed after reporting discomfort in his right shoulder, and the Cubs decided not to take any chances and immediately put him on the 15-day IL.
You may remember Soroka experienced a drop in velocity over his last several starts with the Nationals. He insisted all along it was not a result of injury, but that he was trying to figure out why it was happening, perhaps attributing it to his workload as a full-time starter after he spent the latter half of the 2024 season as a reliever with the White Sox.
Soroka told reporters in Chicago after Monday’s game he underwent an MRI prior to his final start with the Nats last week “for my peace of mind” with regards to the velocity drop. The results of that test said “there was nothing that presented to be an issue at the time there.”
