After two injury plagued years, could the high octane right hander move to the bullpen?
After a rocky road back from Tommy John Surgery that has seen him throw only 8.1 innings since 2022, Cade Cavalli should finally be healthy in 2025. Now the question is how should the Nats utilize their former first round pick. My suggestion is to let him rip out of the bullpen.
There are a couple reasons why they should do this. One is Cavalli’s health. He has not been able to hold up to a starters workload since being drafted, and has been ravaged by injuries. It is a similar story to what happened to Mason Miller of the A’s. Miller is a high octane arm, who’s momentum as a starter was always derailed by injuries. The A’s have now let him eat out of the bullpen, and he is holding up better with a limited workload.
A second reason is the quality of Cavalli’s stuff. At his best, Cavalli’s fastball can be an explosive offering that flirts with triple digits. However, it is more of a velocity over movement type pitch. That makes it even more important for him to maintain his velocity. In the bullpen, he will be able to air it out, and sit in the upper 90’s. Cavalli also has a plus curveball and a plus changeup. Those three plus pitches could point to starting, but his control is average at best.
There is also the fact that the Nats have a crowded rotation. They have six big league caliber starters, in Mackenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams, DJ Herz, and Mitchell Parker. All of those guys appear to be ahead of Cavalli in the pecking order at this point.
The Nationals bullpen is also very thin after non-tendering Kyle Finnegan, and trading Robert Garcia. There are almost certainly going to be bullpen moves before the season, but there are still going to be a lot of spots up for grabs.
Beyond Jose Ferrer, there aren’t a ton of guys with high leverage stuff. Cavalli would change that. He has the stuff and mentality to compete for the closer job, assuming he is healthy. Health will be the biggest factor in all of this. Having these types of setbacks after Tommy John is scary, and there is no guarantee his stuff will be as sharp as it was in the past. However, if he is close to his pre-Tommy John self, he has the potential to be a dominant reliever.
Cavalli becoming a potential closer of the future would change a lot for the Nats. Throughout their history, the Nationals have always seemed to have a bit of a blind spot in the bullpen. Even when they had competitive teams, the Nats always seemed to have to scramble for bullpen help at the trade deadline. If guys like Ferrer and Cavalli develop, maybe the Nats can finally have a good homegrown bullpen.