The outlook of Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli's career was in jeopardy after he tore his UCL in 2023, requiring Tommy John surgery. After recovering and fighting back from the injury, he will make the Nationals' Opening Day start.
After getting drafted in the first round in 2020, Cade Cavalli has gone through many ups and downs before getting his chance to make the Opening Day start for the Washington Nationals.
Cavalli was drafted 22nd overall out of the University of Oklahoma. He both batted and pitched during his first three years before focusing on pitching his senior year. He was named the Big 12 Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year in 2020, but would see limited opportunity before the season was cut short due to COVID.
In his junior season in 2019, Cavalli finished with an ERA of 3.43 in 12 starts and batted .319/.393/.611.
Cavalli showed a lot of promise early in his professional career, being the Nationals' top prospect in 2021 and 2022. He made his MLB debut in 2022, but struggled, allowing seven earned runs in 4.1 innings.
He would then see a major setback in his development when he tore his UCL in 2023 Spring Training, which forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery and left his future in jeopardy.
Cavalli missed all of 2023 and only played three games in 2024 while recovering from the surgery, but he would be back in 2025. He started in 17 games in the minor leagues, where he initially struggled to find his footing. He would finish with a .547 ERA in 74.0 innings pitched and a 4-7 W/L record.
He was called up to the Major Leagues and made his first start on August 6th against the Oakland Athletics. He would have a bumpy two months to end the 2025 season, but finished his Major League tenure with a 4.25 ERA and a 3-1 W/L record. His WHIP decreased to 1.479 in his 10 games in the Majors from 1.554 in his 15 games in Triple-A.
He entered the 2026 Spring Training as a likely candidate for the Opening Day rotation, but played himself into the Opening Day start after dominating Spring Training.
He showed some really promising stuff off the mound. In 2025, he was in the 95th percentile of chase percent and barrel percent, according to Baseball Savant. His 97-mile-per-hour fastball ranked in the 88th percentile among pitchers; his ground ball percentage ranked in the 93rd percentile as well.
With the way that he pitches, he makes it hard for batters to find good contact. He often times relies on his defense to finish plays for him in the infield. He loves getting batters to chase pitches outside of the strikezone which shows in his high chase percentage and high whiff percentage.
He entered the 2026 Spring Training as a likely candidate for the Opening Day rotation, but after the Nationals traded Mackenzie Gore, he took advantage and played himself into the Opening Day start after dominating Spring Training.
Cavalli finished 2026 Spring Training with four starts where he allowed zero earned runs in 14.0 innings pitched and had just a 0.43 WHIP.
Cavalli will now look forward toward his first Opening Day start, and his twelfth ever Major League start. The 27-year-old is now where the Nationals organization hoped he could be, despite a Tommy John surgery in 2023.
He has a lot of potential and a lot of room to continue to grow as he enters his first full season in the Major Leagues.
He also has garnered high praise throughout the organization for his character off of the mound.
“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,” said Nationals manager Blake Butera.
“[Cavalli’s] one of the most deserving men in this clubhouse,” said teammate and All-Star pitcher Josiah Gray who also dealt with a Tommy John surgery in 2024.
Cavalli will take the mound as the Nationals play the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day, Thursday, March 26th at 2:20 p.m. at Wrigley Field.