ROCHESTER, NY - Cade Cavalli’s pitching performance Tuesday against the Worcester Woo Sox is going to be especially important in deciding how much more time Cade will be in the minors or if he will soon be promoted to the majors. The question in Rochester is which Cade Cavalli is showing up to pitch against Worcester?
That question has become even more magnified with a new change in management and starting pitcher Trevor Williams going on the IL. It is time for Cavalli to live up to being Washington’s number one draft pick in 2020.
Cade Cavalli has started ten games this season in Rochester. He has not pitched past the sixth inning and has only pitched into the sixth inning once. That is not his fault; he has been on a pitch count or inning count all season since his Tommy John surgery in 2023. Cavalli has started 10 games for Rochester and has pitched against seven different teams. Tuesday will be his third time pitching against Worcester, but they have moved some prospects up (Anthony, Mayer, Toro) and some prospects down (Campbell, Sogard).
Cavalli’s fastball before TJ surgery was between 95-97 mph and could reach 99. Lately his fastball has regained most of his speed ranging between 94-96 mph and reaching 98. His fastball lacks stellar movement and has been hit hard if he is not locating the fastball well and doesn’t establish or command his secondary pitches. Cavalli’s 82-65 mph curveball has excellent bite and can get plenty of whiffs. His 85-88 mph slider has a good angle drop that has kept batters off-balanced. Cavalli’s upper-80s changeup can be effective against left-handed batters. He has had games when he is unable to throw his secondary pitches for strikes, and he gets behind in the count, which has spelled trouble.
In Cavalli’s ten starts for the Red Wings, he had four starts where he could not complete four innings and six starts where he was able to complete four, five or six innings. In Rochester this year, his record is 3-2 with a 5.27 ERA. He has given up five home-runs, walked 19, struck out 45 and has a 1.46 WHIP.
Why its important for the real Cade Cavalli to please stand up is in his four starts where he couldn’t complete four innings his ERA is an extremely high 13.14 and WHIP is a very high 2.11, and he has ten walks and ten strikeouts for a strikeout to walk ratio 1:1. In the other six starts where he has pitched anywhere between four and six innings, Cavalli has an excellent 1.82 ERA and a very good 1.14 WHIP, and he has nine walks and 35 strikeouts for a strikeout to walk ratio of 4:1.
When he pitches ahead in the count and keeps the leverage over the batter and let his secondary pitches and fastball compliment each other he is highly successful. It is especially important that Cade manages his command, attack the fringe of the strike zone and upper quadrants of the strike zone with his fastball and command and mix his secondary pitches into his pitching tool-belt.
Tuesday’s game versus Worcester starts at 6:45. The pitching matchup is an interesting one. Kyle Harrison (acquired via the Rafael Devers trade) will be starting against Cade Cavalli.
I will be giving inning-by-inning updates on X @BWadeRoc