Nationals Officially Announce Who Their Opening Day Starter Is Going to Be

The Washington Nationals have roughly two-and-a-half weeks until they head out to face the Chicago Cubs for Opening Day on March 26.

While the majority of their MLB roster seems to be figured out at this point, there are still battles taking place for the rest of spring training that will decide fringe roster spots, the rotation, positional starters and who will fill out the bullpen.

One of the most important things that was still undecided for a while was who the Nationals were going to hand the ball to on Opening Day. All signs pointed to that being Cade Cavalli, but manager Blake Butera said they weren't ready to make a decision just yet. Well, they seemingly decided, because Washington officially announced Cavalli is going to be leading this rotation on March 26.

you earned it, cade pic.twitter.com/zaTPZuSDZl
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 11, 2026

In a cool video released on the team's social media page, Butera is filmed revealing this news to Cavalli. It's no secret that it's been a long road to get here for the right-hander. He battled a lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery that took away a lot of his big league career to this point. So him coming back and earning this honor is a great story.

"As we talk through what we want this culture to be about, what we want our team to be about, talk about leadership, talk about competitors on the mound, at the plate, you're the first guy that comes to my mind, Simon's [Mathews] mind, Paul [Toboni], everybody," Butera said in the video. "With that being said, dude, March 26th in Chicago, that's your game, dude. You're going to be our Opening Day starter."

Nationals Want Cade Cavalli to Set the Tone

Cade Cavalli of the Washington Nationals | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

After Cavalli said his thank yous to Butera and the others who were in the room, it became clear that both he and the Nationals want him to set the tone for the team this year. That was something both Cavalli and Butera stated before the righty headed out of the manager's office.

Washington still has a long way to go before they are going to be competitive in their own division, let alone the entire National League and against the American League to win championships. But if they are going to get to that point, they need to start establishing a different culture, which is what they aim to do this season.

Cavalli is a competitor, and he's the best starting pitcher on this team. He has been excellent during his spring starts thus far, and if he remains healthy during this build-up period before the 2026 campaign begins, he could have a major breakout year.

Pieces are starting to fall in place for Washington as they continue to get ready for the upcoming season. And now they know who their Opening Day starter is going to be when they take the field on March 26.