Author Topic: The Cavalli Has Arrived (delayed until 2024) - Cade Cavalli  (Read 5152 times)

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Offline imref

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Man Julio Teheran was a workhorse.

So were Gio and Tanner Roark. Gio started at least 30 games in 8 out of 10 seasons. In those other two seasons, he started 27.

Offline nobleisthyname

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Braves have sent Ian Anderson to Triple A.  Third overall pick and was pitching in the World Series in 2021.

He struggled last year but not anymore than any of our pitchers, and better than several. Really an embarrassment of riches for the Braves right now. With Díaz and Quintana out, they're probably the favorites over the Mets for the NL East now.

Offline nobleisthyname

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So were Gio and Tanner Roark. Gio started at least 30 games in 8 out of 10 seasons. In those other two seasons, he started 27.

For sure. The Nats had great pitching durability during their competitive window.

Offline Smithian

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Man Julio Teheran was a workhorse.
The things I'd do for a John Lannan or Livan Hernandez on this team.

Offline Slateman

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For sure. The Nats had great pitching durability during their competitive window.
Its almost like competitiveness and having good, durable pitching are linked.


Almost.

Offline imref

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Its almost like competitiveness and having good, durable pitching are linked.

Almost.

I'm not sure if this is true in recent years thanks to openers and the like, but for a long while the stat that most indicated team success was average # of innings thrown by starters. All the top teams ranked at or near the top in that category.

Offline Senatorswin

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The things I'd do for a John Lannan or Livan Hernandez on this team.

What'd I give for a Pete Richert the Senators had from "65" to "67".

Offline IanRubbish

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I'm not sure if this is true in recent years thanks to openers and the like, but for a long while the stat that most indicated team success was average # of innings thrown by starters. All the top teams ranked at or near the top in that category.

The Nats starters had the worst pitches per IP last year in MLB, and this year probably won't be much different.  This idea of a rotation where the starters aren't much better than the bullpen makes little sense.  Time to get creative.

Offline metssuck

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Leave me alone for a minute.  My only DC team is the Nats.  As a NorCal sports fan, we tolerate poop
on the street better than losing.  I’m not used to this.  Maybe if I had stuck with the Raljon Football Team
I’d be better equipped to handle organizational dysfunction.

If you’re a kings fan,  you shouldn’t be that upset about losing. They haven’t made the playoffs since mark brunell was playing for the WFT.  But I’ll take a wild guess and say you’re a warriors fan right?

Offline Elvir Ovcina

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If you’re a kings fan,  you shouldn’t be that upset about losing. They haven’t made the playoffs since mark brunell was playing for the WFT.  But I’ll take a wild guess and say you’re a warriors fan right?

The crap on the streets reference was a rather clear one to SF.

Best piece of public art I ever saw was a used needle stuck vertically in a human turd somewhere in SoMa.

Offline imref

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Jessica Camerato's latest newsletter is about Cavalli's return to Nats park this week. He did end up playing catch yesterday.

Quote
Sept. 19: RHP Cade Cavalli plays catch for first time since Tommy John surgery
Cavalli completed 25 throws at a distance of 45 feet at Nationals Park on Tuesday afternoon, marking the first time he has played catch since undergoing Tommy John surgery during Spring Training.

“I have been visualizing that moment since pretty much the time that I tore it,” Cavalli said. “Now that it’s here, it was just very surreal. I felt great. It did feel a little bit weird the couple of throws trying to find that slot again, but once I found it and I felt comfortable in it, it was awesome. I don’t know how else to describe it other than awesome. It was a great feeling.”

Cavalli will continue his throwing program into the offseason, with a goal of returning to game action in June 2024.

he's scheduled to play catch again Thursday. Camerato says they are targeting a June 2024 return for him.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Jessica Camerato's latest newsletter is about Cavalli's return to Nats park this week. He did end up playing catch yesterday.

he's scheduled to play catch again Thursday. Camerato says they are targeting a June 2024 return for him.
June '24. I imagine that, if everything goes well with him and with Corbin, he'd be ready maybe by the trade deadline and slot in if Corbin is traded.

Offline Slateman

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June '24. I imagine that, if everything goes well with him and with Corbin, he'd be ready maybe by the trade deadline and slot in if Corbin is traded.
Lol, Corbin traded ...

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Lol, Corbin traded ...
Not impossible but there are two big ifs: needs a 4.5 ERA or better, and the Nats kicking in some of the $12 million or so he'll be due in August and September. As you say, Lol.

Offline welch

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Right now, Corbin and Jake Irvin are the most reliable starters. Maybe the Nats keep him as the team fights for a wild card next July...

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/09/20/cade-cavalli-tommy-john-recovery/

Quote
“I miss baseball a ton,” Cavalli said of what he has learned about himself since tearing his UCL in March. At the start of a five-minute conversation with reporters Tuesday, he threw out “sometime” in June 2024 as a potential return date. The Nationals still consider him one of their top prospects, a right-handed starter they could build future rotations around. But in the meantime, he will take Wednesday off from throwing before playing catch again Thursday.

“When I threw it, it was very emotional,” Cavalli, 25, continued. “... When that ball came out I was like, ‘Dang, I really missed this.’ It just gives you that fire to be able to get back and go compete at something you love.”

Cavalli is far from the only Nationals pitcher, past or present, to have his UCL repaired. Jake Irvin, a 26-year-old righty for Washington, perhaps the rotation’s brightest spot in 2023, was among those well aware of what Tuesday meant to Cavalli. The pair played together at the University of Oklahoma in 2018, two years before Irvin underwent Tommy John surgery as a minor leaguer. So after Cavalli played catch and spoke with reporters, Irvin stopped by Cavalli’s locker — just a few down from his — and congratulated him on the step.

Offline imref

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Offline Slateman

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So .... June. Like, that means he doesnt hit an innings limit.

Which basically gives Corbin and Williams two months to prove they belong in the rotation

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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So .... June. Like, that means he doesnt hit an innings limit.

Which basically gives Corbin and Williams two months to prove they belong in the rotation
and, if they do, they get dealt.

Offline Slateman

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and, if they do, they get dealt.
Or they stay for a WC push

Offline nobleisthyname

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Fangraphs has him as their #57 prospect for 2024:

FV: 50

Fastball: 55/55
Slider: 50/55
Curveball: 70/70
Changeup: 55/55
Command: 40/45
Sits/Tops: 94-98 / 102

Quote
TL;DR: Cavalli has a huge arm and a good changeup, but also carries a considerable amount of relief risk due to past injury and his violent delivery.

Cavalli climbed the minor league ladder quickly in 2021, starting the season at High-A and closing it out at Triple-A, claiming the distinction of being the hardest thrower at that year’s Futures Game (touching 102 mph) along the way. He notched over 123 innings of work without an IL stint, which was a welcome development considering scouts had some injury concerns surrounding college Cavalli, whose arm action is quite long and whose delivery is pretty violent. Cavalli spent 2022 at Rochester, where he wasn’t as dominant as in 2021 but still pitched well, amassing a 3.25 FIP in just shy of 100 innings. He made his big league debut at the end of August, after which Cavalli was shut down with shoulder inflammation. While shoulder problems can derail a pitcher’s career, Cavalli looked fine during his first couple of 2023 spring training outings, again sitting 96-97 mph with the same powerful mid-80s curveball he began to emphasize more in 2022. He seemed poised to seize an Opening Day rotation spot but Cavalli blew out his UCL in his third spring outing and needed Tommy John, which shelved him for all of 2023. The rate of TJ recovery is encouraging, so Cavalli’s evaluation/valuation is unchanged — he still projects as a mid-rotation starter who is set to return sometime in 2024, having begun to throw bullpens sessions in spring training.

Cavalli’s fastball plays below its velocity, but his curveball is vicious and has ridiculous depth for how hard it is. His changeup also shows bat-missing ability and when it’s combined with the vertical curveball, it gives Cavalli two weapons with which to attack lefties. Pitchers who are built like this and are this powerful and athletic tend to pan out over time, even when they have suboptimal fastball shape, with Sandy Alcantara representing the best recent example. Cavalli’s changeup and slider quality aren’t quite to that level, but at one point, neither were Sandy’s. It’s common for pitchers with arm actions as long as Cavalli’s to re-map their arm path during rehab, so let’s be on the lookout for that when he returns this year.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-top-100-prospects/

Offline imref

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Offline welch

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Offline Natsinpwc

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Baby steps.   No reason he should not be able to come back.  June seems good.