At this point in the Nationals’ season, there isn’t much left to grab onto. The team that made things interesting for the first few months has faded away. But every fifth day, Cade Cavalli gives Washington fans a reason to lean in.
What Cavalli has done since the All-Star break has been the bright spot. He’s 7-1 with a 1.95 ERA over 10 starts, piling up 75 strikeouts against just 14 walks in 60 innings. In a season where so much around him has gone sideways, he’s been the one steady force - and he’s still getting sharper.
The most striking part is that he doesn’t look like a pitcher who’s running on fumes. If anything, Cavalli is building momentum. That matters for a Nationals staff that has been uneven around him, because he gives the club something it badly lacks elsewhere: a starter who can overpower hitters and keep them uncomfortable.
He’s averaging around 97 MPH, but the real separator is the shape and quality of his breaking pitches. Cavalli’s curveball already had a reputation, with velocity and true curveball movement that stood out even last year. Then he added a sweeper this offseason, and as he’s grown more comfortable with it, the whole package has gone up another level.
The sweeper has been especially nasty. It comes in at 86.4 MPH, nearly three ticks harder than the average sweeper, and it gives hitters a miserable look - depth like a curveball, but movement away from the bat.
Batters are hitting .108 against it with a 35.9% whiff rate. His curveball has been just as punishing, with a .193 average against and a 38.9% whiff rate.
Simon Mathews has taken heat this year, and some of it has been fair. But he’s also clearly helped Cavalli, who keeps adding layers to his game as the season progresses. The rise of power curves and sweepers has been one of the league’s bigger pitching trends, and Cavalli has slid right into that lane.
He’s also leaning on those pitches more often and throwing them harder. In August, the curve averaged 87.5 MPH and the sweeper 87.2. Those weapons were on full display in his dominant outing against the Cubs, the best offense in the league, when they had no real answer for his power stuff.
The evolution has gone beyond the pitch mix, too. Cavalli’s command has tightened up, and that’s made him more trustworthy even when a start begins poorly. In LA, he opened with a 30-pitch, two-run first inning and still recovered to go six innings with eight strikeouts while allowing only those two runs.
That kind of resilience has become part of the story now. Cavalli has gone at least six innings in 12 of his last 14 starts, and it would have been 13 if not for the comebacker that hit him in the leg against the Marlins.
The numbers for the full season are strong across the board: 12-5 with a 3.12 ERA in 158.2 innings and 185 strikeouts. He’s also closing in on a pair of milestones, with a shot to reach 200 strikeouts and about 175 innings if he gets a few more good outings.
For a pitcher in his first full big league season, that’s an impressive line. Given the injury history, the durability may be the most impressive part of all. He’s not just surviving a full workload; he’s improving as the innings pile up.
There’s one more number that says plenty about how dominant he’s been: Cavalli has allowed three or fewer runs in 28 of his 30 starts, the best mark in the league. Some of that came from a shorter leash earlier in the year, but the run he’s been on lately makes the stat look even stronger.
Tonight, Cavalli gets the Angels as the Nationals try to stop a seven-game losing streak. The last six weeks have been rough, but Cavalli has been the one bright spot. Cade Day has become must-see TV, and Washington finally has a pitcher who looks like a true top-of-the-rotation arm.
In Other News...
Nationals Avoided The Worst With Orlando Ribalta But Questions Remain
Orlando Ribaltas forearm scare could have been far worse for the Nationals, and for a while it sounded like a situation that might send a ripple through the bullpen picture. Instead, the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list after feeling discomfort, and the club at least got the relief of knowing the issue did not point to anything structural. Ribalta had taken a meaningful step forward this year, giving Washington a useful look at a pitcher whose performance had started to trend in the right direction.
Even with the best-case medical news, the timing is still frustrating for both sides. Ribalta is expected to be unavailable the rest of this season, which shuts the door on whatever role he might have carved out down the stretch and leaves his status focused on getting back to full strength for the next spring. For a Nationals team trying to piece together a bullpen, it also means one of the more encouraging internal options is suddenly pushed back to the offseason competition for a job. [Read more 🡒]
Eddy Yean Suddenly Has Real Stakes In Washingtons Bullpen Future
The Nationals are mired in a six-game skid on their West Coast trip, and amid the frustration, Eddy Yean has quietly re-entered the conversation in Washington. The right-hander was recently recalled and has already worked in eight big league games this season, giving the club a look at a pitcher who has generally managed traffic well with a 2.45 ERA and 0.91 WHIP.
Yeans latest outing was a bumpier one, a reminder that every appearance now carries a little more weight as the Nationals sort through the bullpen picture. Recalled in place of Zak Kent, he is not just trying to help steady the staff in the moment, but also to strengthen his case for a role in Washingtons bullpen picture moving forward. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Just Lost Time On A Late Infield Test
The Nationals were in the middle of a late infield look when the roster took an unexpected turn. Nasim Nunezs absence leaves Washington with one less option to sort through as it continues evaluating how different defensive alignments might fit around the rest of the roster, a small but meaningful interruption for a team still trying to learn what it has.
In his place, the club brought back outfielder Andrew Pinckney for his second stint with the major league team. It is a practical move to keep the roster moving, but for Washington it also means the infield test that had been underway will have to pause for a few days while the team adjusts around one fewer candidate in the mix. [Read more 🡒]