WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Three years of perseverance and grit culminated in one of baseball’s most prestigious honors: Cade Cavalli was named the Nationals’ 2026 Opening Day starter on Wednesday.
On March 26, the 27-year-old right-hander will take the mound for the Nats at Wrigley Park against the Cubs as he begins his first full season in the Majors.
“Talk about who you want at the top of your rotation,” said Nationals manager Blake Butera. “From a makeup standpoint, from a human standpoint, from a pitching standpoint, he checks all those boxes.”
Drafted by the Nats 22nd overall in 2020 out of Oklahoma, Cavalli debuted in the Majors just two years later, on Aug. 26, 2022, only to be shut down for the rest of that season with right shoulder inflammation.
Cavalli did not pitch in the big leagues again for 1,076 days as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, making a triumphant return last year on Aug. 6. He completed 10 starts and came into Spring Training in February as a contender for the Opening Day starter spot.
In his first two Grapefruit League starts, Cavalli has not allowed an earned run. He has held opponents to a .056 batting average and recorded seven strikeouts in six total innings. On Friday, Cavalli reached 98.6 mph with his fastball against the Astros.
“[He has demonstrated] the ability to get back on the horse and just keep at it,” Butera said. “It’s hard. It's frustrating when you go through injuries, you go through failures or not meeting the expectations that Cade has for himself. The ability to turn it back around each year and be like, ‘Hey, let's go. Time to get to work. Time to go. This is the year.’ And I hope that this is the year for him. Everything he's done up to this point has been everything we could ask for and more.”
The Nationals captured the moment on video when Butera told Cavalli the good news.
“I’m ready to rock, baby,” Cavalli replied. “Heck yeah. Man, thank you so much. Let’s get it. We’re going to set a tone this year.”
Said Butera, “There's nobody more deserving of this opportunity than Cade and what he's done to lead this pitching staff. The culture they've created as a pitching staff, he’s been a large part of that. Everyone was just so happy for him.”