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Nationals Recall Cade Cavalli

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August 6: The Nats made it official today, announcing that they’ve recalled Cavalli and optioned Lara.

August 5: The Nationals are recalling Cade Cavalli from Triple-A Rochester to start tomorrow’s game against the A’s, interim manager Miguel Cairo told reporters (relayed by Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). While the team has not officially announced the move, they did option Andry Lara to open the necessary active roster spot.

Cavalli, a 2020 first-round pick who was once one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, will step on a major league mound for the first time in almost three years. The Nats called him up in August 2022. Cavalli gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Reds during his MLB debut. (For perspective on how long it has been, Mike Minor started that game for Cincinnati, while Steve Cishek and Jake McGee came out of the Washington bullpen.) Cavalli came out of that start with shoulder discomfort that ended his season. His elbow blew out the following spring, and he underwent Tommy John surgery.

The road back wasn’t smooth. Cavalli obviously missed the entire ’23 campaign. He made a few attempts to rehab the following season but encountered setbacks and spent that whole year on the injured list as well. Cavalli remained on the IL to open this year and wasn’t officially activated until May 11. The Nats optioned him to Rochester, where they’d be able to more effectively limit his innings after two and a half lost seasons.

Cavalli has made 15 Triple-A starts. He’s averaging 4 1/3 innings per appearance and has only twice completed six frames. Cavalli dominated minor league competition early on but has hit a rough patch. He’s allowed four or more runs in five of his past six starts. That leaves him with an unimpressive 6.09 earned run average on the season. Cavalli’s 25% strikeout rate and near-55% ground-ball percentage are more encouraging. His velocity has also returned to pre-injury levels. He’s averaging nearly 96 MPH on his four-seam fastball and sinker while sitting around 84 with his power curveball.

Now 26, Cavalli was once viewed as a potential mid-rotation starter. He still has that kind of raw stuff, but his command has always been a work in progress. He lost nearly three seasons of development time and faces questions about what kind of workload he’s capable of handling. There’s a chance his long-term future is in the bullpen, but the Nats remain in a rebuild and have little reason to give up on him as a starter right now.

This was Cavalli’s first option season. He has accrued more than two years of service time. The only silver lining from his perspective is that the initial injury occurred after he’d been called up, so he picked up MLB service and was paid a major league salary until he was officially activated from the IL in mid-May. He won’t reach the three-year threshold this season because of the time spent on optional assignment. The Nats control him for another four years.

Pirates Claim Jack Little

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The Pirates announced that they have claimed right-hander Jack Little off waivers from the Dodgers and assigned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. The Dodgers designated him for assignment two days ago. The Pirates had a couple of vacancies on their 40-man roster, with this move bumping their count to 39.

Little, 27, was called up to the big leagues for the first time less than two months ago. The Dodgers selected him to their 40-man on June 19th. Since then, he’s largely been on optional assignment. His big league track record consists of just three innings over two appearances. In those, Little allowed two earned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out two. He averaged 94 miles per hour on his fastball while also throwing a splitter and a slider.

Presumably, the Bucs are more interested in his larger sample of work as a minor leaguer. He was first promoted to the Triple-A level in June of last year. Since then, he has logged 79 innings for Oklahoma City with a 4.67 earned run average. It’s perhaps important to note that the Comets play in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. While the 4.67 ERA may not be especially impressive, his 23.3% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rates are pretty close to typical big league averages.

Little still has a full slate of options and just a handful of service days, meaning he could be a cheap depth piece for the foreseeable future, if he can hang onto his roster spot. The Bucs had some open spots on that roster, so they can get a free look at him for now and see how things go in Indianapolis. They traded David Bednar and Caleb Ferguson ahead of the deadline, putting a dent in their bullpen depth, so Little backfills a bit of that.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin, Oncea-Imagn Images

Padres Notes: Payroll, Miller, Sears

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The Padres’ flurry of deadline dealings brought Mason Miller, JP Sears, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Nestor Cortes, Will Wagner and Freddy Fermin to San Diego. The slate of new acquisitions addressed major deficiencies in left field and behind the plate to varying levels while also deepening the pitching staff. It was another frenetic deadline for the Friars — one that was complicated not only by a lack of depth in the farm but also some financial constraints. The Padres operated with minimal payroll flexibility in the winter, and it seems ownership’s budgetary crunch carried over to the deadline.

Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports that the Orioles and Brewers both sent substantial cash considerations to the Padres in the respective trades involving O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes. Baltimore sent $3.324MM to San Diego, while Milwaukee included $2.169MM in cash. The combined $5,493,300 the Padres received in that pair of trades effectively pays the trio of O’Hearn, Laureano and Cortes down to the prorated league minimum for the remainder of the season. Each of the other four players acquired by the Padres (Miller, Sears, Wagner, Fermin) was earning scarcely more than the $760K minimum as a pre-arbitration player.

The Padres are still more than $25MM north of the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResource, so the influx of cash won’t help them stay under the tax threshold (or even out of the second penalty tier). It does, however, mean the Padres barely added anything to their actual cash payroll for the 2025 season. That’s seemingly been the bigger concern than the luxury threshold anyhow. Nick Pivetta’s four-year contract, for instance, came with a $13.75MM average annual value but pays him just $4MM in 2025 (a $1MM salary and $3MM signing bonus).

San Diego’s actual cash payroll sits a bit above $213MM. It’s not clear what sort of payroll expectations ownership will have for the 2026 season, but there’s already more than $166MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books. That doesn’t include the $6.5MM club option on Laureano, which seems like a lock to be exercised.

That number also fails to account for arbitration raises. Each of Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Gavin Sheets will be due raises on this year’s salaries ($4.8MM, $2MM and $1.6MM, respectively). Miller, Sears, Fermin and righty Bryan Hoeing will be arbitration-eligible for the first time. Miller, in particular, will be in line for a notable salary. Closer Robert Suarez has a two-year, $16MM player option he’s likely to decline this winter, however, which would subtract an $8MM salary from the books.

Between Laureano’s option and the slate of arbitration raises, San Diego’s payroll can be reasonably expected to climb close to $200MM before making a single addition. Assuming Suarez indeed opts out, the Padres would be looking at a payroll in the $190-192MM range. If the goal is a payroll in the same realm as this year’s $213MM mark, that doesn’t leave a ton of additional space. Then again, each of Miller, Laureano, Fermin, Wagner and Sears proactively addressed some 2026 needs, and the Padres expect to welcome Joe Musgrove back to next year’s rotation after he missed the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery.

Due to that financial situation, the Padres presumably had to include more prospect capital in their deadline trades than if they didn’t need the other club to eat significant money. That’s a notable element as the Padres have traded away a large number of prospect in previous deals, so their farm system hasn’t been considered especially strong lately. Coming into this year, MLB.com ranked their farm 25th out of the 30 teams in the league, with Baseball America putting the Friars 26th.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Padres’ lack of impact talent was initially a roadblock in the Miller talks. Rosenthal notes that Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller tried to line up a three-team deal. He asked the A’s to tell him which prospects they wanted from other clubs, with the goal of then acquiring those players to send them to the A’s for Miller. There were rumors the Padres were considering trading majors leaguers like Dylan Cease or Suarez, so perhaps Preller could have traded one of those guys for the prospects he needed to get Miller.

However, the A’s didn’t want to take that complicated route and wanted to just deal directly with one club. They got interest from clubs like the Yankees, Phillies and Mets, but those clubs weren’t willing to surrender their top prospects. Specifically, Rosenthal notes that the Phillies weren’t willing to include Andrew Painter while the Yanks wouldn’t part with Spencer Jones or George Lombard Jr.

The Padres were eventually able to get the deal done, despite their weak farm system, by including top prospect Leo De Vries. They also included pitching prospects Braden Nett, Henry Baez and Eduarniel Núñez but De Vries was the key piece to getting the deal done. Having now traded De Vries and several other prospects, the Friars will presumably have an even weaker farm system in next year’s rankings, but that is seemingly a price they were willing to pay in order to build a winning team here in 2025.

As for Sears, the other player who came to San Diego alongside Miller, he may be viewed more as depth than a key piece of the club’s push this year. He started for the club on Monday, allowing five earned runs in five innings against the Diamondbacks, before getting optioned to Triple-A yesterday.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune notes that Sears may not be recalled in the remainder of the season, unless someone gets hurt. Michael King is on the injured list but has begun a rehab assignment, having thrown 3 1/3 innings in his first rehab start on Sunday. Once he’s healthy, the rotation will be Cease, King, Pivetta, Cortes and Yu Darvish. That would leave Sears in a depth role alongside guys like Randy Vásquez, Kyle Hart and Matt Waldron.

Going forward, however, the path to a role opens up. Each of Cease, King and Cortes are impending free agents. Musgrove should fill one of those vacancies but that still leaves space for Sears to carve out a role in next year’s rotation.

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

Astros Reinstate Spencer Arrighetti, Transfer Isaac Paredes To 60-Day IL

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The Astros announced today that right-hander Spencer Arrighetti has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Righty AJ Blubaugh has been optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land as the corresponding active roster move. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Isaac Paredes has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Arrighetti had a decent debut with the Astros last year, tossing 145 innings with a 4.53 earned run average. His 10.3% walk rate was a bit high but he punched out 27.1% of batters faced. Ideally, he would have built on that foundation in 2025 but a freak injury got in the way. He was throwing on the field during pregame batting practice when an errant ball struck him and broke his thumb. He had made just two starts before landing on the IL and has been out of action until today.

That was one of many rotation injuries suffered by the Astros this year. Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski required Tommy John surgery. Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier and J.P. France are still trying to get healthy after surgeries in previous years. Brandon Walter is on the IL due to elbow inflammation while Lance McCullers Jr. is sidelined by a blister.

Despite all that, the Astros are having a great year, currently atop the American League West. That’s thanks in large part to huge contributions from Hunter Brown and Framber Valdez. Arrighetti can now join those two in the rotation, alongside Colton Gordon and Jason Alexander. Each of Javier, Garcia and France have begun rehab assignments, so they could be factors in the coming weeks.

As for Paredes, he landed on the 10-day IL on July 20th due to a right hamstring strain. All the reporting out of Houston has indicated the strain is significant and could perhaps end his season. Per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, surgery was a possibility, though that would have come with a six-month recovery period. Paredes is instead trying the rest-and-rehab approach, which gives him a chance to return late in the season.

Though it’s possible Paredes could be back, the Astros aren’t relying on it. They acquired old friend Carlos Correa from the Twins ahead of the trade deadline to take over for Paredes at third base. Today’s transfer indicates they don’t expect Paredes to be back before the middle of September, as the 60-day count is retroactive to his initial IL placement. If he is able to come back, it’s unclear where he will play, but the club’s designated hitter spot is open for now with Yordan Alvarez also on the IL. Paredes could also perhaps slide over to second or first base, though it’s also possible future injuries will open playing time between now and the end of the season.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” general manager Dana Brown said, per McTaggart. “We have multiple infielders who can play multiple positions, and that’s very helpful. That would be a good decision to have to make.”

Photo courtesy of Jordan Johnson, Imagn Images

Vince Velasquez To Sign With KBO’s Lotte Giants

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The Guardians announced this morning that right-hander Vince Velasquez will sign with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization for the remainder of the season. Velasquez has been pitching with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate. His contract is being sold to the Giants, who’ll send cash back to Cleveland. Velasquez and his agents at CAA have surely negotiated a deal with the Giants that’ll pay the right-hander more than he’d have received by playing out the remainder of his minor league deal with the Guardians.

Velasquez, 33, hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2023. The Guardians selected his contract to the big league roster back in late April, but he was designated for assignment a few days later before ever getting into a game. He could’ve rejected the subsequent outright assignment after he cleared waivers, but he opted to remain with the organization.

In 81 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year, Velasquez has pitched to a 3.42 ERA with a strong 26.8% strikeout rate but an ugly 14.1% walk rate. Velasquez has averaged fewer than 4 2/3 innings per start, though some of that workload was limited by design. The right-hander had elbow surgery back in June 2023 and missed all of the 2024 season as a result. Cleveland didn’t push him past 4 1/3 innings in an outing until late May. Velasquez still isn’t regularly working deep into games, but he’s pitched into the sixth inning in seven of his past 12 starts and averaged five frames per start along the way.

Selected by the Astros with the 58th overall draft pick back in 2010, Velasquez has pitched in parts of nine major league seasons. He’s totaled 763 2/3 innings with a 4.88 earned run average, 24.9% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate in that time.

In 2025, Velasquez has gotten stronger as the season has worn on (3.17 ERA over his past 12 starts). He’s sitting 92.5 mph with his fastball — down a couple miles from his peak levels — and complementing that four-seamer with a slider, knuckle curve, changeup and sinker (in order of usage rate).

To make room for Velasquez, the Giants are slated to waive left-hander Tucker Davidson, per a report from the Chosun Ilbo (a South Korean news outlet). Davidson has pitched to a 3.65 ERA on the season, including six innings of one-run ball last night in his tenth win of the season. The team had concerns about Davidson’s lack of consistency, per the report, and opted to make a change before the KBO’s Aug. 15 postseason eligibility deadline for foreign signees (hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO).

Davidson, 29, has pitched in parts of five major league seasons between the Braves, Angels and Orioles. The lefty once ranked as one of the more promising arms in Atlanta’s system but has totaled 129 2/3 innings with a rocky 5.76 ERA in the majors.

The Opener: Arrighetti, Cavalli, Red Sox

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:

1. Arrighetti to return:

The Astros have been without Spencer Arrighetti since April due to a thumb fracture, but the right-hander is finally ready to return to action. He’s listed as the club’s probable starter for today’s game against the Marlins, which will pit him against right-hander Janson Junk (3.86 ERA in 13 appearances). Arrighetti made just two starts before getting shelved earlier this year but posted a 4.53 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 145 innings of work during his rookie campaign last year. The 25-year-old’s return should help offer some certainty to a rotation that has largely lacked it this season outside of Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown. Corresponding moves will be necessary to clear both 40-man and active roster space for Arrighetti.

2. Cavalli returns to the majors:

Former Nationals top prospect Cade Cavalli made his MLB debut back in 2022. He surrendered seven runs on six hits, two walks, and three hit batters over 4 1/3 innings of work while striking out six opponents, and he hasn’t pitched in the majors since. That’s not because of his poor performance in his debut, but because he missed the entire 2023 and ’24 seasons while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Cavalli has now made 15 starts at Triple-A but has struggled badly in his last six starts, leaving him with a 6.01 ERA despite solid peripheral numbers. Despite those recent struggles, he’ll now get the opportunity to pitch in the majors for the first time in three years. He’ll take the mound in front of the home crowd in D.C. opposite Athletics lefty Jeffrey Springs, who has a 4.00 ERA in 23 appearances this year.

3. Red Sox streaking ahead of May’s team debut:

The Red Sox have been surging in recent days, with wins in each of their last seven games. They’ll now look to keep the good times rolling as deadline addition Dustin May makes his Red Sox debut at Fenway Park this evening in a game against the Royals scheduled for 7:10pm local time. May’s 104 innings of work this year for the Dodgers are already a career high, but he’s posted a middling 4.85 ERA with a 4.72 FIP. He’ll look to put up stronger numbers in Boston, starting tonight against Michael Wacha (3.38 ERA in 22 starts). If May can help lead the Red Sox to a win, the club’s eight-game win streak would be their second streak of that length after they won ten straight earlier this year. Only the Brewers have two win streaks of eight games or longer this season.

Padres Option JP Sears

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The Padres announced they’ve optioned JP Sears to Triple-A El Paso. They recalled reliever Sean Reynolds and will go with a nine-man bullpen in the short term. Sears will spend at least 15 days in the minors unless he’s brought up to replace a player going on the injured list.

San Diego acquired Sears alongside Mason Miller in last week’s massive deadline deal. The 29-year-old southpaw made his team debut last night. He allowed five runs in as many innings on 10 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Sears took the loss in a 6-2 defeat. He’d carried a 4.95 earned run average over 22 starts with the A’s. Yesterday pushed his ERA to 5.12 across 116 innings. It’s a bottom 10 mark among pitchers to log at least 100 frames. Sears had the highest home run rate among that group, offsetting his nearly league average 20.3% strikeout rate and solid 6% walk percentage.

This is the first time in two and a half years that Sears heads to the minors. He broke camp with the A’s in 2023 and has been in the majors since then. Sears has also avoided the injured list for that entire time. As a result, he’s tied for fifth in MLB with 87 starts since the beginning of the ’23 season. The durability is the big selling point, as his production (4.62 ERA/4.56 SIERA) over that stretch is that of a fifth or sixth starter.

The demotion shouldn’t have any impact on Sears’ service trajectory. He has already surpassed the three-year mark and will qualify for arbitration next winter. He’s under team control for three seasons beyond this one. While he’ll probably be back up at some point this year, it may require an injury elsewhere in the rotation.

San Diego optioned Randy Vásquez over the weekend. They currently have a four-man rotation of Dylan Cease, Nick Pivetta, Yu Darvish and deadline acquisition Nestor Cortes. Darvish and Cortes will get the ball for the next two outings. San Diego is off Thursday and could turn back to Pivetta and Cease on extra rest for their first two games of the weekend series against the Red Sox.

That’d point to the series finale on August 10 as Michael King’s return date. King threw 61 pitches in what is expected to be his final rehab start on Sunday (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’d be on six days rest for his first MLB appearance since he went on the injured list in late May with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder.

Reds, Charlie Barnes Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Reds are in agreement with left-hander Charlie Barnes on a minor league contract, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Barnes has spent the past few seasons with the Lotte Giants in Korea. He was released in May after suffering a shoulder injury that came with a two-month recovery timetable (link via Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News).

Barnes has a bit of big league experience. He made nine appearances with the Twins in 2021, allowing a 5.92 ERA across 38 innings. Minnesota waived him at the end of that season, and Barnes embarked on his new career path in Korea. He spent parts of four seasons with Lotte. The Clemson product was effective for the first three years, surpassing 150 innings with an ERA of 3.62 or better in each.

The 29-year-old had a tougher go this season. Opponents tagged Barnes for 5.32 earned runs per nine across eight starts before Lotte shut him down with the injury. He will presumably report to Triple-A Louisville to serve as rotation or long relief depth and try to earn a late-season look with the big league club.

Royals Sign Jonathan Heasley To Minor League Deal

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The Royals signed right-hander Jonathan Heasley to a minor league contract. The 28-year-old has not pitched in a game since being released by the White Sox at the end of March.

Heasley returns to his original organization. K.C. selected him in the 13th round of the 2018 draft. The Oklahoma State product debuted three years later and pitched with the Royals between 2021-23. He combined for a 5.45 ERA in 36 appearances. Heasley started 21 games in 2022 and moved mostly to the bullpen a year later. Kansas City traded him to Baltimore during the 2023-24 offseason.

With the Orioles, Heasley made four MLB appearances and pitched 10 times in Triple-A. He was released in July after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury while in the minors. Heasley was able to get back on the mound for three appearances with the White Sox during Spring Training. Chicago initially assigned him to their Arizona complex but released him a few days into the regular season.

Heasley owns a 5.89 ERA in 139 big league innings. He has also struggled at the Triple-A level (5.47 ERA across 164 2/3 frames) but is a familiar face for the Royals and can provide long relief depth once he’s ready to report to Triple-A Omaha.

Reds Place Nick Lodolo On Injured List With Blister

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The Reds placed starter Nick Lodolo on the 15-day injured list with a blister on his left index finger. Reliever Yosver Zulueta is up from Triple-A Louisville to fill the active roster spot.

Lodolo left last night’s start at Wrigley Field in the second inning. He has dealt with blister issues in the past, including one on his index finger that cost him a couple weeks last season. Manager Terry Francona indicated the history played a role in the team’s decision to put him on the shelf (ESPN link). There’s no indication he’ll be out beyond the minimum stint.

Aside from a three-day stay on the paternity list, this is Lodolo’s first absence of the season. The 27-year-old southpaw has a 3.05 ERA across 23 starts. He has recorded a solid 23.6% strikeout rate against a tidy 4.6% walk percentage while logging a career-high 129 2/3 innings. This has easily been the best season for the former seventh overall pick. Lodolo has pitched at a top-of-the-rotation level of late, turning in a sub-2.00 ERA while striking out 27% of opponents over his past nine starts.

Cincinnati will need to skip at least two of Lodolo’s turns through the rotation. They’re not going to replace his recent production but are well equipped to withstand a brief absence. The Zack Littell trade was going to push Nick Martinez to the bullpen. The veteran swingman can stick in the rotation for another turn. Hunter Greene could be back after that, but he’ll need at least one more rehab start with Louisville this week. Greene has been out since the beginning of June with a groin strain.

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