Washington Nationals Boss Reveals Plan Around Intriguing Prospect’s Return

The Washington Nationals had their first workouts with pitchers and catchers on Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. That means manager Davey Martinez had his first press availability.

With it being pitchers and catchers, much of the focus was on their status and Martinez was asked to address the future availability of Cade Cavalli.

The Nationals’ first-round pick in 2020 is in camp and hopes to contribute to the staff in 2025. He missed all of 2023 and most of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

He did pitch in three games in the minor leagues last season and had a 2.16 ERA in 8.1 innings and batters hit just .042 against him.

That’s encouraging. But Martinez and the coaching staff are in no mood to rush a pitcher that they hoped would be a bellwether for them earlier in his career.

The veteran manager has one clear benchmark in mind when it comes to when Cavalli comes up to the Majors and contributes.

“We're going to manage his workload,” Martinez said to reporters, including from the Washington Post. “When he starts, we want him to finish the season. We don't know where that's going to be, but we're going to manage as best we can his workload.”

Washington has the luxury, at least for now, of not having to rush him. Thanks to signing Michael Soroka, Trevor Williams and Shinnosuke Ogasawara, the Nationals have veteran options to go along with MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz.

There is a solid competition for five spots. So, the Nats can give Cavalli the time he needs to stretch out.

“We know that when we get him built up, he'll be ready to finish the season with us,” Martinez said. “To me, that's awesome. He's in a good place. He had a good winter. He looks great.”

Cavalli has just one Major League appearance, which came in 2022 when he made one start for the Nationals and gave up six runs and seven hits in 4.1 innings. Still, he’s been regularly listed among the Nationals’ Top 30 prospects since he was drafted out of Oklahoma.

In the minors, he started 47 games and has a 13-13 record with a 3.46 ERA. He has 292 strikeouts and 104 walks, and batters hit just .209 against him. Before the injury, he spent most of 2022 with Triple-A Rochester, where he went 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA.

If he’s healthy, he boasts an intriguing repertoire. Before the surgery he had a four-seam fastball that averaged 96 mph and could hit 100 mph. Baseball America evaluators noted he had a quality curveball, change-up and breaking ball that acts like a hammer curveball. It’s part of the reason why batters hit just .209 against him.

But Washington is in no rush.

“We're going to take it day by day with him, and we'll see where he's at,” Martinez said.

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