Washington Nationals: Taking It Safe With Their Prospects
By Max Rayman
Health has always been an issue for the Washington Nationals and they are set on not repeating their past mistakes.
Top Nationals prospects Cole Henry, Brady House, and Cade Cavalli are dealing with respective ailments and have been shut down. Both Henry and House have been placed on the 7-day IL, while Cavalli hasn’t pitched since June 16 — with no set timetable for his return.
Heard Cade Cavalli told the team afterward that he felt a bit sore, which led them to skip his latest start. He may miss another, too, just as a precaution. This is similar to how the Nationals have managed a number of their minor league arms this season.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) June 24, 2022
Abundance Of Caution
Washington has set their eyes on making sure its players can finish the season strong instead of being shut down in September due to fatigue.
“I think we’re putting the onus on playing deep into the season, though the minor league season and being available beyond,” Rizzo said. “Because our plan is always to play through October. So I think we’ve kind of adapted that, kind of morphed into that being the best way to achieve the goals. The goal for player development is to develop these guys mentally, physically, and emotionally to finish a full major league season.”
A second-round pick in 2020, Henry has battled injuries dating back to his time at LSU. At LSU, he missed time due to a stress reaction in his upper arm and an elbow issue. Last year he only made 11 appearances between FCL and A+ due to another elbow issue. When healthy, Henry has been virtually untouchable, going 1-0, with a 1.71 ERA, and 34 strikeouts in nine starts between AA and AAA this season.
Henry last pitched on June 11, allowing a season-high four runs. Due to his injury history, the Nats have been extremely careful with Henry this season, opting against inviting him to Spring Training in order for him to build his strength. To start the season, the Nats have limited his workload — having only thrown 5+ innings once this season.
Brady House hasn’t played since June 11 and is hitting .278, with three homers, 31 RBIs, and an OPS of .731. The 19-year-old has been dealing with back soreness and is projected to miss at least 10 days.
Cavalli started the year at AAA, posting a 7.62 ERA through his first seven starts. But over his last five starts, he’s only allowed seven runs (four came in the same outing). In his last out, he threw five innings, allowing only one run and striking out four.
In the fifth inning, Cavalli threw a pitch a bit off the plate and immediately showed some discomfort. The coaching staff came out to the mound for a quick chat before he finished off the inning. Besides dealing with a stress fracture in his arm during his Sophomore year at Oklahoma, the flamethrower has been relatively healthy throughout his young career.
It hasn’t just been their big three of prospects who have been under load management.
“You’ll see each starting pitcher will be skipped throughout the season; usually at the 10-start mark we try to skip a start or push a start back,” Rizzo said. “That’s the situation with Cavalli, (Rodney) Theophile, (Cole) Irvin, and those guys. They’ll get pushed back a start or two, just to give them a blow. No physical abnormalities there.”