The Washington Nationals have officially ended Cade Cavalli's season after a healthy scratch for his last start
With less than one week left in the 2026 regular season, the Washington Nationals have officially shut down their ace ahead of his final start.
Manager Blake Butera revealed that right handed ace Cade Cavalli will not make his final appearance given his season pitch count and the team's standing with the postseason out of the picture.
The 28 year old officially ends his third MLB season with his best yet in a Nationals uniform after posting a 13-5 record in 32 appearances. He also tossed his 200th season strikeout in his last start, one of two Nationals to notch an accolade in the win against the St. Louis Cardinals, while recording a 3.02 ERA and 1.16 to notch new career bets. His 200 strikeouts also rank eighth across MLB when the team announced the news, while Cavalli also ranks top 20 among all pitchers in wins, ERA and WHIP.
Though he was not among the Nationals to be tabbed a National League All Star, Cavalli has been every bit of the ace that was expected from since then after posting an 8-1 record with a 1.90 ERA and 0.89 WHIP through the second half of the season. For an organization that had a void to fill in its rotation following the decision to trade Foster Griffin ahead of the deadline, Cavalli has comfortably answered any concern about that question.
The career season is why Cavalli became the first player within the franchise since 2019 to earn an extension after the team announced a new deal through 2030 with a club option for 2031, giving president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and the rest of the front office a key piece in the rotation to build around ahead of the rest of the offseason given the clear attention that the pitching staff will draw. While the Nationals have yet to formally announce, the official end to Cavalli's season likely confirms the growing expectation that former Red Sox starter Connelly Early will not make his debut with the team this season despite the optimism from Toboni.
The Nationals are set to suit up in their final road game of the season on Wednesday when they face the Detroit Tigers. Though the team has yet to announce a starter for the series finale, the Nationals are set for one of two games set to be broadcast on ESPN with first pitch set for 1:10 PM.
