Nationals prospect Cavalli to make first major league start in three years

It was a long road back to the majors for Nationals pitching prospect Cade Cavalli, but the 26-year-old is expected to make his first major league start in three years on Wednesday against the Athletics.

Washington planned to call up Cavalli on Tuesday to start the second of a three-game home series, according to multiple reports.

Cavalli made his MLB debut with Washington in August 2022. The former first-round pick allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings in his lone start with the Nationals. 

Shoulder issues sidelined him for the rest of that season. An elbow injury suffered in spring training in 2023 required shoulder surgery, setting him back another year.

The right-hander made three rehab starts in 2024, but a bout with the flu and a bad arm shut him down again. 

“It’s a weird thing where you feel like it should feel healthy and the ball should be coming out a little different,” Cavalli told MASN last September. “It’s a weird thing that you can’t really explain. But I’m glad that we shut it down early enough that nothing worse happened.”

After 15 starts with Triple-A Rochester this season, Cavalli is finally ready to return to the majors. He’s ranked as the sixth-best prospect in Washington’s farm system, with scouts praising a fastball in the upper 90s and a sharp curveball. 

Command has been an issue. Cavalli hit three batters in his MLB debut in 2022. This season in Rochester, he issued 27 walks across 65 innings and hit seven batters. The former Oklahoma Sooner earned a 3-7 record with a 6.09 ERA.

“If everything clicks, he could be a key contributor to Washington’s rotation,” MLB Pipeline’s scouting report said. “But after the missed time, it’ll be an uphill climb to get there.”