Nats name Cavalli as Opening Day starter
Three years after needing Tommy John surgery, former first-round pick Cade Cavalli will get the ball for the Nationals' season opener at Wrigley Field
The Nationals officially named Cade Cavalli their Opening Day starter this morning, solidifying the young right-hander’s status as the club’s staff ace to begin the season … and ideally, many more.
Manager Blake Butera informed Cavalli in West Palm Beach he’ll be getting the ball for the March 26 opener against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, a prime assignment for a pitcher who has made only 11 major-league starts.
The Nats used their 2020 first-round pick on Cavalli believing he would ascend to this role over time. But an elbow injury suffered almost exactly three years ago during a spring training start threw his career path off track.
Cavalli had Tommy John surgery in March 2023, then needed two years to fully recover from the elbow ligament replacement procedure. The Nationals brought him back slowly last season, keeping him at Triple-A Rochester until August to manage his innings. Once he finally returned to the majors, he showed off an elite repertoire of pitches and flashes of his No. 1 starter capabilities.
Once the club traded 2025 Opening Day starter MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers in January, Cavalli, 27, jumped to the front of the line as the likeliest replacement. His pitching schedule all spring, including this afternoon’s game against the Cardinals, has lined up with the Game 1 assignment. Through his first two Grapefruit League outings, he has tossed six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out seven and averaging 97 mph with his fastball.
Cavalli becomes the Nats’ fourth different Opening Day starter in four years, following Gore last season, Josiah Gray in 2024 and Patrick Corbin in 2023.
Butera hasn’t named the rest of his rotation to begin the season, and much will depend on the readiness of veteran right-hander Zack Littell, who signed a $7 million deal this week and may make his spring debut this weekend. Two other veterans signed in recent months, Foster Griffin and Miles Mikolas, are expected to be part of the Opening Day rotation. If Littell is ready, that leaves one remaining slot for either Gray, Jake Irvin, Brad Lord or Mitchell Parker.
And with that, here are starting lineups for today’s game against the Cardinals. We’ll just go ahead and make this the game thread instead of creating another article and bumping the Cavalli news down the page ...
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Cardinals feed)
Weather: Mostly sunny, 82 degrees, wind 15 mph right to left
CARDINALS
SS Masyn Winn
2B JJ Wetherholt
1B Alec Burleson
RF Jordan Walker
3B Nolan Gorman
LF Jose Fermín
C Pedro Pagés
CF Nathan Church
DH Rainiel Rodriguez
RHP Dustin May
NATIONALS
SS Nasim Nuñez
RF James Wood
LF Daylen Lile
1B Andrés Chaparro
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
CF Joey Wiemer
2B Seaver King
DH Matt Mervis
RHP Cade Cavalli
Despite the limited work last year, he has earned it, but it is fortunate that he is also performing well in ST to help add credibility to the announcement.
The Cardinals' play-by-play radio guy says Cavalli looked pretty good, despite having hit two (left-handed) batters.
Final line: 3 scoreless & hitless IP, 40 p (27 strikes), 1BB, 2K.