Cade Cavalli will take the mound when the Washington Nationals open the season against the Chicago Cubs as manager Blake Butera opens up on the decision.
The news of Cade Cavalli being the Opening Day starter for the Washington Nationals became official after the team announced the returning arm will take the mound when they take on the Chicago Cubs on March 26 at Wrigley Field. It marks the first Opening Day nod for Cavalli, who capitalized on the vacancy after the front office pulled the trigger on a MacKenzie Gore trade back in January.
Washington would turn outside the organization to address the rotation, first by adding Miles Mikolas who has struggled across his two spring training starts before adding Zach Littell, who is now set the mound for his Nationals debut when Washington faces the New York Mets on Friday. Still, Cavalli put his injury-filled past behind him to capitalize on the opportunity.
“Talk about who you want at the top of your rotation. From a makeup standpoint, from a human standpoint, from a pitching standpoint, he checks all those boxes,” first year manager Blake Butera said of Cavalli.
The Nationals shared the interaction between Cavalli and Butera on social media, leading Cavalli to respond with "I'm ready to rock, baby" after being tabbed.
Josiah Gray, who took the mound to open the 2024 season, pointed to Cavalli as "one of the most deserving men in this clubhouse."
It marks a long road to recovery for Cavalli, who had not pitched in 1,076 days before returning to the mound for his first start last August. The injuries began in 2022 after being shut down due to right shoulder inflammation after making his MLB debut on August 26. Returning to full strength for spring training the following season, he would pitch just once before suffering a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, leading to Tommy John surgery and effectively sidelining him for the 2023 season.
Then, a case of influenza coupled with 'dead arm' limited him to just three appearances in the minor league during 2024, finally reaching full health toward the end of the regular season. Cavalli would then put the injuries behind him after making 17 appearances in the minors during 2025, then being called up on August 6 for just his second appearance in the majors.
Cavalli threw 4.1 scoreless innings in a 2-1 finish over the then-Oakland Athletics before earning his first win on August 16 after tossing five strikeouts and allowing seven hits in seven innings, leading Washington to a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Cavalli also became the sixth pitcher in Nationals team history to record 12 or more strikeouts in his first two appearances.
“The work he’s put in to get back to the level he’s at and then exceed that level, it shows with getting that nod. But also, he’s very humble in the way that he goes about his work. It couldn’t have gone to a better candidate, honestly,” Gray said.
Across two starts this spring, Cavalli has yet to allow an earned run while holding opponents to just a .056 batting average, doing so while recording seven strikeouts in six total innings. MLB.com pointed to Cavalli's fastball reaching 98.6 mph in his latest start on Friday against the Astros. He followed it up with two strikeouts and one walk in three innings on Wednesday afternoon, registering nine strikeouts in nine innings.
“[He has demonstrated] the ability to get back on the horse and just keep at it,” Butera said. “It’s hard. It's frustrating when you go through injuries, you go through failures or not meeting the expectations that Cade has for himself. The ability to turn it back around each year and be like, ‘hey, let's go. Time to get to work. Time to go. This is the year.’ And I hope that this is the year for him. Everything he's done up to this point has been everything we could ask for and more.”