After getting Tommy John surgery two years ago, Cade Cavalli, on April 29, reported to AAA Rochester to begin his rehab with Washington as his final baseball destination was coming into focus. He last pitched in Rochester in 2022 and made 20 starts, pitching very well that season. He had an ERA of 3.71, which the previous year in Rochester was 7.30. Almost a four-run drop in a year. Cavalli started Spring Training in 2023 and had made a couple of good starts, and all signs looked like he would start that season as a National. When he had an arm injury that required Tommy John surgery, it would derail but not end his dream of pitching in the major leagues.

Cavalli was scheduled for a longer start of five to six innings on April 29 against the first-place Lehigh Valley IronPigs for his first Rochester start in 2025. The first inning went well, where he faced four batters, walking one and striking out two. In the second inning, he faced six batters. Every batter this inning made great barrel contact. Even the outs were line drives that were hit hard. He gave up two singles when Oscar Mercado blasted a three-run homer. After that inning, Cavalli felt like he had a tired arm, and Manager Matt LeCroy pulled him immediately from the game.

Cavalli missed a start, but there was nothing structurally wrong, so his second start would be against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 11 days later. He was scheduled to pitch three innings in this game. He started out with two shutout innings, and after two and a half innings, the Red Wings were leading 5-0. The RailRiders scored one run with two outs, and the bases were loaded when Cavalli lost the strike zone and command of his pitches and loaded the bases with walks. He was one strike from getting out of the inning when ex-National Dominic Smith drilled a grand slam home run over the right field fence. Cade pitched 2.2 innings, giving up five runs on three hits while walking three and striking out two. His ERA in Rochester ballooned to 15.43 after two starts.

After his second start, the Nationals ended his rehab and optioned Cavalli to the Red Wings. In the previous two starts, he went two innings and 2.2 innings, so for the next start against the Durham Bulls, Cavalli was scheduled to pitch four innings. Against Durham, his fastball was still being hit, but his secondary pitches were getting whiffs and were highly effective. He exited the game after four innings and only gave up one run on six hits. His command was much better as he only walked one batter while striking out eight Durham batters.

Cavalli’s next start was against the Syracuse Mets. Cavalli pitched a good game, integrating his secondary pitches effectively and keeping the Syracuse batters off-balanced. He only gave up one run, a 3rd inning-solo homerun to Gilberto Celestino, in the 3rd inning. Cade only gave up four hits while once again walking only one batter and striking out four. After these last two games, his ERA has dropped from 15.43 to 6.59. The Cade Cavalli from 2022 was beginning to reemerge. In his last two games, his ERA is 2.00, and his WHIP is 1.33.

Cade Cavalli’s fastball pre-Tommy John regularly was thrown between 95-97 mph and sometimes would hit triple digits. Even when his fastball reached close to triple digits, it had more velocity than movement. Cavalli’s fastball right now is sitting between 92-94 mph and might hit 96. His fastball in the last four starts in Rochester, and his opponent’s batting average, is close to .290. His secondary pitches are an 82-85 mph curve that has a big vertical drop and leads to plenty of whiffs and an upper-80s changeup that has been getting swings and misses, too.

It is especially important that Cavalli manages his command issues, attacks the fringe of the strike zone and upper quadrants of the strike zone with his fastball and mixes and brings his secondary pitches more into his pitching repertoire. As of right now, Cavalli’s next scheduled pitching date would be next Wednesday at Innovative Field in Rochester against the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland). Game time is at 11:05, and I believe MASN will be televising that game.