Cade Cavalli is everything the Nats need, now and in the future

AL EastBlue JaysOriolesRaysRed SoxYankeesAL CentralGuardiansRoyalsTigersTwinsWhite SoxAL WestAngelsAstrosAthleticsMarinersRangersNL EastBravesMarlinsMetsNationalsPhilliesNL CentralBrewersCardinalsCubsPiratesRedsNL WestDiamondbacksDodgersGiantsPadresRockiesScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsThe Windup NewsletterFantasyMLB ProspectsMLB OddsMLB PicksPower RankingsFans Speak UpMLB Season Cade Cavalli on Wednesday became the fifth pitcher in Nationals history to strike out 10 batters in back-to-back games, the first to do so since Max Scherzer in July 2020. Heather Khalifa / Getty Images Share articleNEW YORK — At the end of a wet, chilly night at Citi Field, Cade Cavalli pointed to his catcher. Or maybe he was pointing at the strike zone. After throwing his final 24 pitches for strikes, he probably should have also pointed at the strike zone. “He had 24 strikes in a row?” manager Blake Butera asked. “I did not know that,” Cavalli said. Sure, but he sensed that something was going right. Nights like this are what the new-look Nationals are working toward. In the minor leagues, they are trying to build arms that throw 96 mph and maintain it throughout the night. In the major leagues, they are trying to train arms to attack the zone, then attack it some more, even when it feels uncomfortable. On Wednesday, when Cavalli struck out 10 batters for the second consecutive time — this one in a 14-2 drubbing of the New York Mets — he accomplished both facts. And what happens when stuff like that is in the zone? “Normally, good things tend to happen,” Butera said. It is here that we should probably note that this is a work in progress. Cavalli and Foster Griffin have pitched really well, and Jake Irvin is trending that way, too. But the Nationals have openly spoken of patience. At the moment, their staff ranks No. 28 in FanGraphs’ Stuff+ metric. On Tuesday, when president of baseball operations Paul Toboni spoke of a timeline — one in which their pitching staff occupies the sport’s upper crust — he did so in terms of years, not weeks. “But I am confident that, over the medium and long term, it’s going to start to show up,” Toboni said. “And when it shows up, it’s not going to be the end of it for us. We’re just going to continue to try and improve and drive those numbers up over the course of time.” The flame-throwing likes of prospects Travis Sykora, Jarlin Susana, Miguel Sime Jr. and Landon Harmon could join those ranks in the coming years. To develop these nasty arms of the future, the Nationals’ new player development apparatus has embraced more modern instruction and strength and conditioning philosophies than they did in the past. There’s more technology, more tracking and, for the first time, two strength and conditioning coaches at each level. Consider Cavalli one heck of a prototype. Through seven games, the right-hander has a 3.82 ERA and 11.2 strikeouts per nine innings. On Wednesday, he became the fifth pitcher in club history to strike out 10 batters in back-to-back games, the first to do so since Max Scherzer in July 2020. It’s easy to forget that Cavalli has just 18 starts under his belt. He was a first-round pick in 2020 and made his big-league debut in 2022. He is 27 years old with a Rollie Fingers-esque mustache and the faith of the organization behind him. And still, before Wednesday’s game, Butera said he still looks at Cavalli as something of a blank canvas. He’s still figuring out his routine, his pacing. He’s still figuring out how to avoid innings when his pitch count starts to skyrocket, as it did in the first Wednesday. But the baby steps have turned into adult steps in a hurry. He got through the next frame in 10 pitches. That’s what happens when he trusts the stuff, and trusts the operation around him. “It’s a mentality thing, a timing thing, where sometimes I just kind of slow down and get right back into the zone,” Cavalli said. “And (catcher Keibert Ruiz) does a great job. If I’m struggling with a pitch, I’ll go to a different pitch, and he’ll get me right back into it.” At the moment, it is perhaps a bit easier for Cavalli to attack the zone with conviction compared with his peers, given how well his stuff plays. Pitchers who don’t have his curveball, his sweeper or his velocity must walk a finer line. But the mentality to attack, the Nationals insist, has to be there, no matter what the radar gun says. “The goal for us from the beginning has been to pound the zone and get ahead,” Butera said. “Then when you mix the stuff that these guys are starting to learn, starting to get, that combination is huge.” Nights like Wednesday, Cavalli said, build a lot of confidence. It’s when he can work through the order three times without losing a tick of velocity. It’s when he can survive a tank off the bat of Juan Soto, because he knows how to navigate the rest of the lineup. It’s when he can smack his cleats against the rubber, get the mud out of the spikes and let the adrenaline take over. It’s nights like these when the stuff is so good, and in the zone so often, that he shouldn’t have any regrets. On his walk back to the dugout at the end of the sixth, Cavalli spoke enthusiastically to his catcher, then gave him a pat on the butt. “I was just apologizing to him,” Cavalli said. “I shook him off, then gave up a homer on that pitch. So I just said, ‘My bad.’ He’s great. He’s like, ‘You’re all right, Papi, just whatever you’re convicted in.'” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms