After the game, Cade Cavalli admitted to me that he was not executing to the level he wanted to. He was upset about the get me over breaking ball that Ezequiel Tovar “crushed” and the first-pitch fastball to Willi Castro that missed its spot. It was not the version of Cavalli we saw the last two starts. However, he still went six innings of two run ball, striking out seven.
It was Cavalli’s 9th straight quality start. To have a run that long, you have to be able pitch without your best stuff and that is
exactly what Cavalli is doing. As he put it, “You have to bear down, nobody is feeling sorry for you out there. You have to bring your own energy and grind through it”. That is exactly what Cavalli did, and it helped lead the Nats to a much needed win.
While Cade Cavalli was the Nats Opening Day starter, it feels like he is now becoming the team’s true ace. Before the game, Blake Butera told us that he heard from three people “Cade is pitching today”. Even with this team really struggling, there is immense confidence that they can at least win on Cade day.
More than the Stuff+ grades or the spin rates on his curveball, that is the stuff which makes me believe he is becoming an ace. He has that aura and energy on the mound to go with the stuff. That is what is making him so special at the moment.
Of course, you need to have the numbers in order to have the aura. For Cavalli, the numbers are pretty exceptional. For the season, Cavallihas a 3.21 ERA with 169 strikeouts in 148.2 innings. As he is reaching uncharted territory in terms of workload, he is only getting better. In his past 9 starts, Cavalli has a 2.09 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 56 innings.
That ability to go deep into games is what has really improved throughout the season. Cavalli would show flashes of excellence early in the season, but there were too many starts where he battled his command and could not even go five innings. To be an ace, you have to be consistent. Cavalli had ace level stuff, but not that degree of consistency.
To go from that to producing 9 straight quality starts is remarkable. When you are cruising like Cavalli was in his last couple starts, it is easy to go deep into games. However, when the execution is not as crisp, only the best are able to overcome that and go deep anyways. That is what Cavalli did last night.
Blake Butera commented that he “Likes to see these kinds of outings from Cade because it shows a lot of growth. Earlier this year, I don’t know if he is able to do that”. This version of Cade Cavalli is able to give his team a quality start even when he is not at his best.
When talking to Cavalli, I got the sense that he felt that delivering these kinds of performances is his duty to the team. When the going gets tough, it is up to him to bring the energy and deliver. Cavalli admitted that the team was “low energy” to start the game and that was something he and a few teammates talked about around the third or fourth inning. After that wakeup call, the bats woke up and Cavalli upped his game.
Motivating people in the dugout during his starts is not something Cavalli normally does, but he felt like it was needed. Clearly, the meeting had its desired effect and the Nats took off. Moments like that show me that Cavalli is not only an ace on the mound, but also a leader off of it.
Watching the Nats has not been pretty this month, but that changes when it is Cade day. The team and the fanbase finds that energy and joy when he is on the mound. That, combined with his ability to pitch without his best stuff are two tell-tale signs that Cade Cavalli is blossoming into an ace.
All season long, there has not been a ton to cheer about when it comes to Nats pitching. However, Cade Cavalli’s emergence as a top of the rotation arm has been a joy to watch. His improvement from Opening Day to now has been truly remarkable. The Nats have a horse for years to come and his name is Cade Cavalli.
