Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ prospect Cade Cavalli and the future rotation in D.C.
Washington’s brass held out hope that Cade Cavalli would return to the majors over the last weeks of the season, after their 2020 1st Round pick underwent Tommy John surgery in the spring of 2023, and then worked his way back through a tough rehab process, but setbacks along the way forced them to make a tough decision.
“We just ran out of time this season,” Cavalli told reporters late in September, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
“I hate it, because I want to be out there more than anything. I miss competing like crazy.
“We just ran out of time. I’m very excited. There’s a lot of fuel for the fire for 2025.”
Cade Cavalli (@Nationals‘ No. 5 prospect) continues his rehab assignment for the High-A @WilmBlueRocks:
2.2 IP | 0 H | 2 R | 3 BB | 5 K pic.twitter.com/fyGOv6Dv4R
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 31, 2024
“At this point I think we’re just going to let him continue to finish throwing,” skipper Davey Martinez told reporters before a September 17th game in NY’s Citi Field, “… and do his throwing program. I don’t see him coming back, especially not pitching here at all, but we want to make sure we get him healthy for Spring Training.”
An illness and dead arm period which shut Cavalli down ultimately led to an unfortunate situation.
“It’s different sometimes when you have a higher-velocity guy getting back into it quicker, and sometimes the arm just hasn’t caught up to it,” Cavalli explained in September:
“The body and everything felt really good. And there were times that it was normal stuff … and then there were times it would come out and the arm just didn’t respond to the day prior.”
By the end of the season he was back at it and feeling good about where he was:
“It’s all feeling like it’s coming together now,” he said. “I feel healthy. I feel like the body’s moving well, and the ball’s coming out.”
Martinez and Co. in the Nationals’ front office did consider the possibility their one-time top prospect could pitch late this year in Arizona Fall League but the club decided against it.
“We talked to him about that, and I talked to [General manager Mike Rizzo] about that, and we’re kind of in agreement, just he worked really hard to get back to where he’s at right now. We just want him to continue his rehab and be ready for spring,” Martinez said.
Over the final days of the ‘24 campaign, Martinez said he was excited about a future Nats’ rotation with some mix of Cavalli, Josiah Gray (also recovering after TJS), MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, DJ Herz, and Mitchell Parker, or some prospect on their way up who kicks down the door.
“We’re in a good spot with our young starters and still the guys we’ve got coming up, with Cade hopefully being healthy next year in Spring Training.”
“We had this guy [Brad] Lord that did really well,” he added of the 2022 18th Round pick now ranked 30th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the Nats’ top prospects. “[Travis] Sykora [No. 2 overall, and currently the top ranked pitcher in the system], who’s pitched, as you know, really well. [Jarlin] Susana [No. 4] is developing really well. We’re really excited about our starting pitching.”
So excited they won’t seek to sign a veteran arm to add depth to the corps they already have in place? Is a No. 1 or 2-type starter something you think the Nationals need to get before they take the next step?