Nationals Top Prospect Takes Important Steps in Recovery From Tommy John Surgery

The Washington Nationals are nearing the return of one of their top prospects, who is making the first strides in coming back from Tommy John surgery last year.

Mar 14, 2023; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli (54) throws a pitch against the New York Mets during the first inning at Clover Park. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals have made it through spring training relatively unscathed when it comes to injuries. With many of their top prospects and players ready to go for the 2025 season, they seem primed for a strong start to the year. However, one of their highly-rated minor leaguers is still recovering from the Tommy John surgery he had in 2023.

The good news when it comes to this is that he is making the first strides towards playing, as Cade Cavalli faced hitters from the mound for the first time this spring. A recent report by Mark Zuckerman of MASN detailed this first pitching sequence from the former first-round pick on the back fields, noting that Cavalli threw against José Tena and Juan Yepez in rotation.

Zuckerman would also transcribe a quote from manager Dave Martinez, who had the following to say about Cavalli and his upcoming pitching events, "We’re going to get him here and build him up as if it were spring training. He’ll start off here in the beginning. But if everything goes well, he could be pitching for an affiliate probably by May.”

It says a lot about Cavalli that even after missing so much time, he is still extremely highly touted by many different prospect ranking systems. Despite his 2022 MLB debut being a tough one, he has shown some true flashes of elite talent in Triple-A Rochester and other affiliate teams.

Ensuring the young starter has enough time to recover is going to be a crucial step in this process, and making sure he is ready to pitch full outings is going to be even more critical. It will be intriguing to see how this timeline progresses in the coming weeks, and how that timeline adjusts during the season for when he may be available.