Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Suspension reduced to five games
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Major League Baseball announced that Cavalli's seven-game suspension has been reduced to five games following an appeal, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reports. The right-hander will begin serving the ban in Monday's series opener versus the Astros.
During his start last Tuesday against the Red Sox, Cavalli made a remark to Boston's Willson Contreras after striking him out, which instigated a benches-clearing brawl between the two clubs. As a result of getting his suspension reduced to five games, Cavalli will lose out on some salary but isn't expected to miss out on any starts. He's now lined up to take the ball Sunday against the Yankees in his final start of the first half.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Battles dehydration during start
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Cavalli acknowledged after Sunday's 11-5 loss to the Pirates that he dealt with dehydration during his start, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal reports. "It was a weird thing," Cavalli said. "I knew it was going to be hot. These last two or three days, I've been trying to prepare my body as best I can for it. Drinking a lot of fluids, the right kind of fluids. I don't know why my body reacted the way it did to it."
After turning in a 13-strikeout gem over seven innings in a win over the Red Sox on Tuesday, Cavalli was unable to maintain that dominant form in his second start of the week. The high temperatures in Washington, D.C. appeared to take an early toll on Cavalli, who saw his fastball velocity drop from 97.6 mph in the first inning to 96.1 mph in the second inning and 94.2 mph in the third. Cavalli was able to stay in the game after a visit on the mound from manager Blake Butera and a team trainer, but he was pulled after walking the next batter he faced. The right-hander ended up taking a no-decision, finishing the afternoon with four runs allowed (three earned) on six hits and two walks across 2.1 innings and 63 pitches. While Cavalli should be rehydrated and ready to go when his turn in the rotation comes up again during next weekend's series against the Yankees, he's still awaiting the results of his appeal of the seven-game suspension he received last week for his role in the benches-clearing incident that took place during his start against Boston. If the appeal process is completed within the next few days and the ban is upheld, Cavalli wouldn't pitch again until after the All-Star break.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Velo down, leaves start early
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Cavalli was lifted midway through the third inning of his start Sunday against the Pirates due to an apparent injury, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports. He allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out three over 2.1 innings prior to departing.
Fresh off striking out a career-high 13 batters while yielding just one hit over seven innings in his previous start Tuesday in Boston, Cavalli was unable to keep the momentum going. He needed 63 pitches to record his seven outs, and seemed to be pitching through an injury during the start. His velocity was down from its usual levels throughout the afternoon, and he was visited on the mound by the Nationals' athletic trainer at one point during the second inning before leaving the game one frame later. Expect manager Blake Butera to shed light on Cavalli's condition when he address the media following Sunday's game.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Next start coming Sunday
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Cavalli will start Sunday against the Pirates in Washington, Kyle Williams of TheBanner.com reports.
Cavalli was initially expected to make his next turn in the rotation Monday against the Astros, but he will take the mound for the Nationals on Sunday instead of Miles Mikolas, who will likely start in the series opener against Houston. Cavalli is appealing a seven-game suspension that he received Thursday for his involvement in a bench-clearing incident with the Red Sox on Tuesday. Cavalli has a 3.69 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 102:29 K:BB across 90.1 innings this season.
Cavalli received a seven-game suspension Thursday for his actions initiating and during the benches-clearing incident Tuesday versus the Red Sox, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports.
The benches-clearing incident Tuesday was sparked when Cavalli struck out Willson Contreras. On the Nationals' side, Miles Mikolas also received a five-game ban. For the Red Sox, Contreras received a seven-game suspension and Nate Eaton three games. Unless Cavalli appeals, he won't be able to return until July 11.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Settles for no-decision
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Cavalli took a no-decision Thursday against the Phillies, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out seven.
The quality start was the first of the month for Cavalli, whose seven punchouts also marked his highest total in June so far. The 27-year-old right-hander was in line for the win, exiting the game with a 5-2 lead before the seventh inning, but Washington's much-maligned bullpen blew its 24th save of the season Thursday. Cavalli will take a pedestrian 4.00 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 89:29 K:BB over 83.1 innings into his next scheduled outing in Boston against a Red Sox team that's struggled mightily at home in 2026.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Labors in no-decision
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Cavalli did not factor into the decision in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Rays, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks with one strikeout over 2.2 innings.
Cavalli had his start pushed back from Friday due to an illness and struggled out of the gate Saturday, loading the bases in each of the first three innings and failing to escape the third in his shortest outing since April 13. The 27-year-old's velocity was slightly down on his three most-used offerings, so perhaps he was still feeling less than 100 percent. He owns a 4.07 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 82:28 K:BB across 77.1 innings this season and will try to rebound in a home matchup against the Phillies next week.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Scratched Friday
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Cavalli was scratched from his scheduled start against the Rays on Friday due to an illness.
Cavalli was penciled in to start Friday's series opener but instead won't be available due to food poisoning, per Andrew Golden of TheBanner.com. The Nationals are hopeful Cavalli will be ready to start Saturday. PJ Poulin will start in Cavalli's place with Miles Mikolas set to follow in the bulk role.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Strikes out five in fourth win
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Cavalli (4-4) notched the win Saturday against the Mariners, allowing three runs on four hits and no walks in five innings. He struck out five.
Cavalli cruised through four scoreless innings but stumbled in the fifth, when Seattle tagged him for three runs. The 27-year-old right-hander has now fired at least five frames in seven straight starts, and he's given up more than three runs just twice all season. Cavalli will carry a decent 3.98 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 81:25 K:BB across 74.2 innings into his next scheduled start in Tampa Bay.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Takes fourth loss Sunday
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Cavalli (3-4) took the loss Sunday against Arizona, surrendering four runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out two across five innings.
Cavalli was undone by the long ball Sunday, serving up homers to Corbin Carroll in the first inning and Gabriel Moreno in the fifth that accounted for a majority of the damage. More concerning for fantasy managers was the lack of swing-and-miss stuff, as he managed just two strikeouts across five innings after entering Sunday with 74 punchouts across 64.2 innings. Cavalli now owns a 3.88 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and 76:25 K:BB across 69.2 innings and is scheduled to face Seattle in his next start.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Keeps piling up punchouts
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Cavalli (2-3) took the loss Thursday against the Mets, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings. He struck out nine.
The Mets did all their damage in the third inning, scratching across a pair of runs in the frame, but Cavalli otherwise cruised Thursday. The 27-year-old right-hander surrendered no extra-base hits and fanned at least eight batters for the fourth time in his past six starts. The 2020 first-round pick is coming into his own a bit in 2026, posting a 3.86 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 61:19 K:BB across 53.2 frames. Cavalli will be hoping to keep up his recent hot streak in the strikeout department his next time out versus Cleveland.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Unravels in fourth, takes loss
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Cavalli (1-2) took the loss Tuesday against the Twins, allowing six runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out two over four innings.
Cavalli unraveled in the fourth inning, when he threw 40 pitches and struggled badly with his command. The right-hander opened the frame yielding a single and issuing back-to-back walks to load the bases before mishandling a weak grounder from Brooks Lee, allowing a run to score on the error. Later in the inning, Trevor Larnach delivered a two-run double that extended Minnesota's lead. Entering Tuesday, Cavalli had limited opponents to two or fewer earned runs in six of his seven starts and had struck out 10 batters in each of his previous two outings. He now owns a 4.15 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and a 40:17 K:BB across 34.2 innings and is set to face Miami in his next scheduled start.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Strikes out 10 in no-decision
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Cavalli did not factor into the decision Thursday against Atlanta. He allowed two runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out 10 over five-plus innings.
While Cavalli failed to get in the win column Thursday, the right-hander turned in one of his better starts of the season, setting a career-high with 10 strikeouts. Still, the right-hander has struggled to go deep into games early in the season, completing at least six innings just once in six outings. Overall, Cavalli sports a 4.01 ERA with a 1.66 WHIP and 28:12 K:BB across 24.2 innings this year. He's currently slated for a road matchup with the Mets his next time out.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Goes just four innings Saturday
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Cavalli didn't factor into the decision Saturday against the Giants, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks with five strikeouts across four innings.
The Nationals' Opening Day starter, Cavalli has managed to go five innings in just one of his five starts to this point. Saturday marked his first outing without walking a batter, but the Giants made Cavalli work deep into at-bats and still got his pitch count up to 92. The right-hander's five strikeouts matched his season high, but he's not going deep enough to put himself in the mix for wins. Cavalli owns a 4.12 ERA and 18:12 K:BB across 19.2 innings and is slated to face Atlanta in his next start.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Draws Opening Day start
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The Nationals announced Wednesday that Cavalli will start the team's March 26 season opener versus the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Injuries forced Cavalli to wait nearly three years in between major-league appearances, but he showed promise in his 10 starts with the Nationals in 2025 with a 4.25 ERA and 40:15 K:BB over 48.2 innings. The 27-year-old sported better velocity last season than he showed prior to Tommy John surgery and has some breakout potential in 2026.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Inks one-year deal with club option
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Cavalli agreed to a one-year contract with the Nationals on Sunday that includes a club option for 2027, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.
The two sides were unable to come to an agreement ahead of last week's arbitration deadline, but they continued to negotiate and came to terms on what could end up being a multi-year pact. The exact salary figure has yet to be reported, but it seems likely to fall between $825,000 and $900,000, which were the arbitration figures submitted by the two camps. Cavalli made 10 starts for the Nationals in 2025 and posted a 4.25 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 40:15 K:BB across 48.2 innings.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Chased early in no-decision
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Cavalli did not factor into the decision in Friday's 10-9 loss to the White Sox, allowing six runs (two earned) on seven hits and one walk with six strikeouts over four innings.
Cavalli was tagged for four runs in the first inning, though the Nationals made errors on the first two batters he faced. It was the first time the 27-year-old failed to complete five frames since Aug. 27, but he'll finish the campaign holding opponents to three earned runs or fewer in five straight outings. For the season, he posted a 4.25 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and 40:15 K:BB across 48.2 major-league innings.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Sharp again in no-decision
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Cavalli came away with a no-decision in Saturday's 5-3 extra-innings win over the Mets, allowing five hits and a walk over five scoreless innings. He struck out three.
The right-hander continues to provide effective innings in September. Cavalli has gone exactly five frames in four straight starts and hasn't served up a homer on the month, posting a 3.15 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 12:7 K:BB through 20 innings. The 27-year-old will look to keep building his case for a spot in the 2026 rotation in his final outing of the current campaign, which lines up to come at home next weekend against the White Sox.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Goes five innings in no-decision
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Cavalli didn't factor into the decision Sunday against the Pirates, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks across five innings. He struck out two.
Cavalli struggled early Sunday, giving up three runs in the first inning, highlighted by a Nick Gonzales two-run triple. However, the 27-year-old right-hander stopped the bleeding there, holding the Pirates scoreless over his final four frames. Cavalli has held opponents to three runs or fewer in each of his last three starts, going 2-0 with a 4.20 ERA in that span. Overall, his ERA sits at 4.76 with a 1.46 WHIP and 31 strikeouts across eight starts (39.2 innings) this season. Cavalli currently lines up for a road matchup with the Mets his next time out.
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Nationals' Cade Cavalli: Notches third win
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Cavalli (3-1) earned the win Monday at Miami, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk over five innings with one strikeout.
The 27-year-old contained the Marlins lineup over this short outing with his offense providing 15 runs of support. Cavalli fired 61 total pitches, 41 of which were strikes, as the Nationals monitor the workload for their oft-injured righty. The former first-rounder has pitched to a 4.67 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 29:9 K:BB across 34.2 total frames this season. Cavalli is currently slated to make his next appearance at home against the Pirates this weekend.
