Blake Butera Explains Why Nationals Won't Purposely Limit Cade Cavalli's Workload

On Friday night, Washington Nationals star Cade Cavalli did what an ace is supposed to do.

With his team in the midst of a losing skid, having lost nine out of their last 11 games and seven out of their last eight, the right-hander took the ball and delivered six innings of three-run ball where he stuck out eight batters and walked two.

In the midst of his outing, he had to bounce back after he gave up a run in the second inning and two in the third to blow a three-run lead his offense had handed him in the bottom of the first. But after that, he was lights out and didn't relinquish the lead when his offense gave it back to him again.

The Nationals needed Cavalli to deliver in that fashion after the front office traded away Foster Griffin. But how much longer is the 27-year-old going to be leading this rotation since Washington has started to get left behind in the playoff race?

Nationals Won't Purposely Limit Cade Cavalli

Washington Nationals pitcher Cade Cavalli | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Well, for those how think the organization might choose to shut down Cavalli since he is coming off an extended absence due to Tommy John surgery, manager Blake Butera stated that there are no plans to purposely limit the workload of the right-hander.

"We're not huge on saying this guy can only throw 'x' amount of innings, it's more about watching how he looks every time out there and make sure we're not noticing any trends in the wrong direction," the skipper stated, per MLB.com.

That at least paints the picture that Cavalli will be leading this starting rotation barring something unforeseen happeing like him suffering an injury. So far, he has thrown 128 2/3 innings across 25 starts this year. That crushes his previous major league career-high of 53 innings across the 2022 and 2025 seasons combined, and it's also the most he's ever thrown in a singular campaign when factoring in what he did in the minors.

Because of that, there's no doubt that Washington is going to monitor things very closely when it comes to their star pitcher. The last thing they need is for him to go down with another long-term injury, especially with Connelly Early dealing forearm tightness that is worrisome and star pitching prospects like Travis Sykora, Jarlin Susana and Alejandro Rosario are already on the shelf due to surgical procedures they underwent.

But since nothing has indicated that the Nationals should be concerned about Cavalli, it seems like they are prepared to let the rising star go about the rest of this season like usual. He'll look to finish it on a strong note, as his 3.57 ERA and 119 ERA+ have offered hope that this unit can have an ace leading it until some other high-end talents arrive alongside of him.

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