Coming off of two losses where the pitching got shelled, the Nats needed a great performance from Cade Cavalli, and boy did they get it. The right hander flirted with a no-hitter and dominated one of the best lineups in baseball. It was a masterclass by a pitcher who is coming into his own.
Cavalli has been solid all season long, but lately he has taken things to a different level. Across his past 10 starts, Cavalli has a 2.43 ERA. Even more impressive to me is the fact he has gone at least 7 innings
in his past 7 starts and in 9 of his past 10 outings. His transformation into a front of the rotation arm has come.
The story of this game was Cavalli’s flirtation with a no-hitter. He threw 6.2 innings without allowing a hit, before giving up a bloop single to Michael Busch. The idea of a no-no was actually on Cavalli’s mind very early in the game for a funny reason.
A couple days ago Jake Irvin gave Cavalli his notes on the Cubs hitters, something they don’t normally do. Cavalli said he told Irvin, “If I throw a no-hitter, I am going to need these from you every time”. Of course that was in a joking manner, but as Cavalli and Irvin saw each other in the tunnel they shared a big smile according to Cade. I would venture to guess that Cavalli will be looking at Irvin’s notes again before his next start even though he did not get the no-hitter.
Overall, it was just pure domination from Cavalli. He had such great feel for his breaking balls and was bullying Cubs hitters with them. His curveball and sweeper were actually his two most used pitches on the afternoon.
Cavalli got a good, but not spectacular 14 whiffs on the day, with 8 of them coming on his breaking balls. However, he was able to get 21 called strikes, which is an extremely high number. A bunch of those came on his two breaking pitches which the Cubs could not pull the trigger on.
Fittingly, his outing came to a climax in the 8th inning when he froze Michael Conforto on a 3-2 sweeper. Cavalli was fired up coming off the mound, screaming into his glove as he completed the best start of his career. It was a moment of pure jubilation for the righty who turns 28 tomorrow.
As the season has gone along, Cavalli has matured so much as a pitcher. Keibert Ruiz talked about how impressed he has been with Cavalli’s command and the way he can move his pitches around the zone. Blake Butera also lauded his ability to go deep into games.
However, this game was not just about Cade. After a slow start by both offenses, the Nats were the group who was able to figure things out. They were getting flummoxed by Kevin Gausman’s fastball/splitter combination the first time around. As they faced him a second time though, the group adjusted.
That started in the 4th inning when the Nats got on the board thanks to an RBI double by Dylan Crews. However, the 5th inning was when the Nats really broke things open. They got one run across thanks to a sac fly, but with two outs and a runner on 1st, it seemed like that would be it.
The boys had other plans though. CJ Abrams snuck a single through the hole which brought up the Nats new star Abimelec Ortiz. The breakout slugger launched his third homer in the last four games out to right field. That blew the game open and made it 5-0 Nats.
To say Ortiz has had an instant impact with the Nats would be an understatement. The rookie is hitting .333 with 4 homers and a 1.122 OPS through his first 11 games. I thought Ortiz would not take long to acclimate to the big leagues, but this is just out of this world. He just looks like the complete hitter so far.
The Nats may have lost the series, but it was good to avoid the sweep and finish the home stand on a high note. With that win, the Nats secured a 4-2 homestand which sets them up nicely moving forward. They are now 4.5 games out of the Wild Card, and the schedule sets up nicely the rest of the month, at least on paper.
After a tough start to the month, this group has found their bearings again. Now it is time to build off of this and head to New York ready to roll. Today was a Cade Cavalli masterclass with some Abimelec Ortiz lighting strikes mixed in. That is something all Nats fans love to see.
