Washington Nationals Former Top Prospect Looks Strong in Recent Rehab Start

This former first round draft pick for the Washington Nationals has dealt with injuries over the past couple of years, but he could finally be on his way back to the show.

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. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals are hoping to turn the corner on their rebuild this season by getting back to the postseason. They could soon be getting a boost in these efforts with a return from their former top prospect in right-handed pitcher Cade Cavalli.

Cavalli, who started the season off on the IL due to a setback at the tail end of spring camp, recently completed his second rehab start with Double-A Harrisburg Senators, and the results were extremely promising.

Per MASN's Bobby Blanco, Cavalli took the mound on Thursday night for the Senators against the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers Double-A affiliate), and tossed five shutout innings while fanning four batters and walking just one.

This comes on the heels of Cavalli's first rehab start of the season on April 19th at the Single-A level, where he was also extremely impressive for the Fredericksburg Nationals.

Per Blanco, Washington skipper Davey Matinez was very impressed by the performance, and believes that Cavalli is continuing to build himself back up to 100%.

“Very good. He threw the ball exceptionally well,” Martinez said. “I think his average velo was up to about 96 (mph). He threw the ball really well. Curveball was very good. He was trying to land it for strikes; he did that very well. So he's just building himself up. He's doing well.”

Cade Cavalli may fly outta here soon 😏

The rehabbing @Nationals righty spins five scoreless frames with four K's for the @HbgSenators. pic.twitter.com/DW8sXCmoJO

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) April 25, 2025

It's become apparent that Cavalli's long trek back to the majors is approaching it's end, a journey that began over two years ago for the former top prospect.

Cavalli, who the Nationals selected in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft, made his big league debut in 2022 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2023.

Since then he's been undergoing the long rehab process that goes along with UCL replacement, and has suffered a couple of setbacks along the way.

The former Oklahoma Sooner was on track to make the opening day roster, but was ultimately put on the 15-day IL to start the season as a further precaution. With two very promising rehab starts now under his belt though, the team appears close to calling him back up at long last.

Along with being a massive milestone for Cavalli, it also serves as much needed depth at the back end of a Washington rotation that has lacked stability early on. There's no doubt that when Cavalli finally puts on that Nationals jersey again that emotions will be high, and all of DC will be behind him.