Nationals right-hander Cade Cavalli departed today’s game after a visit from the trainer, appearing to shake his throwing arm in discomfort. After the game, manager Dave Martinez told reporters that Cavalli felt “something behind his throwing elbow” and will get an MRI tomorrow, as relayed by Andrew Golden of The Washington Post.
Cavalli, 24, was the club’s first round draft pick in 2020 and quickly rose up prospect rankings. In 2021, he tossed 123 1/3 innings across three different levels with a 3.36 ERA. He struck out an excellent 33.5% of batters faced, though with a concerning 11.5% walk rate. Based on that strong campaign, Baseball America ranked him the #27 prospect in the league around this time one year ago.
Last year, Cavalli made 20 Triple-A starts with a 3.71 ERA, striking out 25.9% of batters faced while walking 9.7% of them. He was able to make his major league debut in August, tossing 4 1/3 innings in his first outing, but shoulder inflammation sent him to the injured list and ended his season.
The Nats are deep into a rebuild at the moment, having traded away most of their established big leaguers for prospects. The 2023 season is lined up to be one dedicated to evaluating many of those younger players, with Cavalli among them. With Stephen Strasburg seemingly not a factor until further notice, the rotation is going to have a couple of veterans in Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams. That leaves three spots open for the club to get long looks at pitchers like Cavalli, MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray.
At this point, it’s unclear what’s next for Cavalli, but the fact that the issue surrounds his pitching elbow is certainly somewhat worrisome. Though the club isn’t expecting to be in a playoff race this year, it would still be unfortunate if an injury absence delivered a blow to his continued development. If he does have to miss some time, a rotation spot could open up for someone like Paolo Espino, Joan Adon or Cory Abbott, with Martinez also mentioning Jake Irvin as an option. Irvin is on the 40-man roster but has yet to pitch above Double-A. If the club decides it needs to bring in a veteran to soak up some innings, the free agent market still features names like Chris Archer, Dylan Bundy and Michael Pineda.
Strasburg 2.0?
Strike out master
In no way is he an upgraded version of Stephen Strasburg.
Not upgraded in talent, upgraded in injuries
Strange how these guys always get hurt right when they’re on the cusp of reaching the majors.
you dont think these kids would be pushing themselves to new limits for a shot at reaching their dream? especially when they are close to the majors. not really sure what youre trying to say here
Maybe it’s more that we don’t hear about injuries to minor leaguers as much, but I think it’s strange that this happens to young pitchers especially, like Forrest Whitley, Brent Honeywell, etc, right before/as they reach the majors.
All of these pitchers are pushing themselves, but it’s strange that they don’t seem to face injury until they actually reach the majors.
We don’t hear about it, so it must not happen.
That’s incorrect, it happens all the time. Hope you’re using the sarcasm.
Max Meyer
My wife says I’m not sarcastic enough, so that’s impossible.
If I was a minor league roster invitee, I would make each pitch or at bat as if it’s Game 7 of the World Series. You want to drain the tank while you are being evaluated. That kind of sustained effort often results in injury but you have to show them what you got. Teams seem to tolerate dicey durability if the talent is there.
More pitching. Less throwing. Simple.
Espino back in as number 5?
If Cavalli’s injury prevents him from pitching, can the Nationals still option him to the minors now and eventually put him on the minor league IL? Or would they need to put him on the MLB IL since he was injured in a big league spring training game?
If they can still option him then he wouldn’t accrue service time. But if he’s out long term and they want to use his 40-man spot via the 60-day IL, he’d get service time regardless.
Boy I wonder what it could possibly be. I’m sure it’s not a UCL tear that will require a Tommy John surgery and set Cavalli back 18 months. Nah… probably something minor.
MRI the non throwing elbow just in case.