WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Washington Nationals are planning to start right-hander Cade Cavalli for their March 26th Opening Day matchup in Chicago, sources tell The Nats Report. The 27-year-old made his triumphant return from a 2023 elbow surgery in August of 2025, making 10 appearances before the season’s end. With this year’s first game being only his 12th career outing, the 2020 first-round pick is set to become just the third pitcher since 1999 to start an Opening Day having 11 or fewer prior games under their belt.
Cavalli’s ascension to the ace role should not be shocking to Nationals fans. He was widely considered the organization’s best prospect from the moment he was drafted up until his elbow injury. Even then, however, his return was highly anticipated, with Washington fans knowing that he could be dominant when healthy. When the righty eventually returned, he posted a 93rd percentile ground-ball rate along with a 95th percentile chase percentage. Hitters had a hard time figuring him out, and with the right offseason and a new coaching staff, Cavalli seemed poised to dominate entering 2026.
Cade’s looked unbelievable. His body is unbelievable right now. He's putting in a ton of work this offseason. He's healthy. I mean, he just looks like a frontline starter for you and a guy that you want in your rotation, day in and day out.
It goes without saying that Cade Cavalli, as well as the organization in general, had no clue just six months ago what anything would look like this spring (whether it was who would be in the dugout or who would make up the team’s five starters). An argument could be made that he was the only “safe bet” entering the offseason, considering that MacKenzie Gore, who held the ace role last year, was dealt in January. While it was almost guaranteed that Brad Lord and Josiah Gray would still be around, it was hard to say if both, one, or neither would earn a rotation spot, since everything depended on potential offseason transactions.
The team ultimately erred on the side of short veteran contracts to give the young arms some mentorship, bringing in 37-year-old Miles Mikolas to serve as a reliable innings-eater while also signing Foster Griffin, one of the best pitchers in Japan over the past few years. Just on Sunday, they also added 30-year-old right-hander Zack Littell to round out the rotation. With all of the arms currently in camp, the team appears poised to go with Griffin, Littell, Mikolas, and either Gray or Lord (with Jake Irvin or Andrew Alvarez as long shot options with just a few weeks left in camp) for the four spots that will follow Cavalli, unless the team surprisingly opts to go with a six-man unit.
One of the key notes throughout Spring Training has been that the Nationals have leaned more into each pitcher’s primary stuff instead of forcing the fastball. In fact, their 48.1% fastball rate is the lowest of any team so far this spring, after ranking seventh-highest last season. The team’s new regime has placed an early emphasis on analytics and data, allowing them to see what each of their pitchers, new or returning, throws best. With TrackMan units, arm-band sensors, and more, having and utilizing this data should allow the team to take each pitcher to the next level.
That will now begin to show in real games with Cavalli on the 26th in Wrigleyville, where the young Nationals will face a Cubs team looking to put its best foot forward as it tries to return to October. The last time Washington won an Opening Day game against a team that had made the playoffs the year before was in 2021, when they walked off the Braves on a 115 MPH hit from Juan Soto. Much has changed for this organization since that day five years ago, but the team’s top prospect from that time is now trying to start a new era off right.
Be sure to check out The Nats Report’s conversation with Cavalli from his days as a prospect, and stay tuned for more coverage as Opening Day draws closer.