Cade Cavalli made his MLB debut in late 2022 with a one-game start, but as he prepared to start as the No. 2 starter in Washington’s rotation, he felt discomfort in his right shoulder and ultimately ended the year. The venue was closed. And the 25-year-old 2020 first-round pick was ready to pitch in the majors last spring, but he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow while pitching in spring training and underwent Tommy John surgery. .
Cavalli felt sorry for himself for a moment, but then quickly turned around and went into full-fledged rehab mode, following the plan laid out by the Nationals and putting in the effort last year to get back to where he needed to be. loaded with. Where he left off before his injury.
“He wants to go, but he understands what he has to do to get to where he wants to be,” coach Davey Martinez said earlier this spring.
“When is he coming back? It’s going to be very exciting.”
But Martinez and his coaches need to be aware of where the top-ranked pitchers in the organization are in their rehabilitation process.
“We need to understand what situation he’s in. He had Tommy John. So there’s progress.”
“I think he’s progressing well,” GM Mike Rizzo told reporters, as quoted by MLB.com writer Jessica Camerato. “His progress has been great. He’s a hard worker and a really good patient. He’s following protocol to a T, and our guys always know you have to pull him back a little bit.” He follows them to the edge and we pull him back a little bit. I think that’s what we want from our players. We want them [champing] We want to pull them back and say, trust us enough to know what’s in your best interest. ”
“Look at him, he’s strengthened in every part of his body, including his elbows,” Rizzo added. I think he’s looking forward to teeing it up and getting ready to go. I’m definitely looking forward to watching him pitch. I think he’s going to help us a lot, he’s one of those starting pitchers that we all covet. ”
Martinez watched Cavalli pitch out of the bullpen in West Palm Beach, Fla., and liked his early return.
“He’s been getting better. I said, you look at him and think, ‘What was wrong with him?’ right? ” said the captain. “But we still have a long way to go, but he’s making progress. He’s on the right track so we can get through this and he’ll get us through this year.” I look forward to your help.”
“I feel completely healthy, which is great,” Cavalli told reporters last weekend. “Thankfully, it’s normal going into spring training. The difference this year is that I’m still continuing my rehab schedule and haven’t practiced fully. So we’re still We’re patient. But we just trust the process, and that’s the main difference.”
It’s been a year since this process began, and so far things are going according to plan.
“It was great,” the pitcher said.
“Thankfully, I have great friends around me who have been through it, and they’ve prepared me for everything I’m going to go through, which is normal pain. You. I had the surgery. I was able to cope better mentally. They helped me a lot in preparing me to get through this so it was very smooth and easy for me. did.”
Asked if going through the process was mentally and physically difficult, Cavalli said, “I don’t think it was particularly difficult.”
“I think the mental part of missing out on players and missing out on competition was what was making me nervous. It teaches me patience and I learn a lot about myself. And , Like I said before, I missed baseball so much, and every time baseball is taken away, that feeling grows even more.”
Returning to camp and joining the team in spring training means a lot to the young starter.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “I wanted to meet those people. I didn’t get to see them much last year, so I hope I can change that this year.”
He’s getting close to it, but has he ever envisioned returning to a major league mound?
“Oh yeah. Absolutely,” Cavalli said.
He might have said, “Well, yeah.” He walked back and forth as he transcribed.
“It’s in my heart. That’s what I’m preparing for and after that there will be a lot of people starting to help this club.”
Cavalli is itching to get back and be part of what the club is building.
“Very excited. There’s a lot of great players and talented people here who are fun to be around and they’re great people, so that makes it even better.”