Cade Cavalli took the ball for the Nationals on opening day. The former top prospect looked solid and pitched well enough for the Nationals to take a 10–4 victory on Thursday over the Chicago Cubs. Cavalli was not dominant, but his start was a good building block to start the 2026 season.
In his start, Cavalli pitched three and two thirds innings, allowed three runs, walked three batters, and struck out five batters.Cavalli faced a tough Cubs lineup, and runners were on base throughout his start, but he was able to strand them and put the Nationals in a position to win.
Compared to just last season, Cavalli threw his fastball much more frequently. He threw it 38.7 percent of the time on Thursday while last season, he only threw it about 30 percent of the time. Conversely, he threw his sinker five percent less compared to last season, and he did not throw his sinker at all to lefties.
This change makes sense, according to Pitch Profiler, Cavalli’s stuff plus on his sinker is 93, making it a below average pitch, while his 96.5 mile per hour fastball has a stuff plus of 100. Favoring his better fastball is a decision that makes sense, and could lead to further development this offseason.
Cavalli’s primary offspeed offering on Thursday was his signature knuckle-curve. He threw the pitch about 28 percent of the time. While this offering is a good weapon, especially against left handed batters, it may help Cavalli’s development if he utilizes his sweeper and changeups more.
On Thursday, batters whiffed at Cavalli’s sweeper and changeup 50 percent of the time and 66.7 percent of the time respectively. On his curveball, the whiff percentage was only 16.7 percent of the time. Cavalli has been known for his knuckle-curve throughout his development, but he may need to use it less in favor of newer pitches that may be more effective
The biggest struggle for Cavalli, though, was throwing strikes. Last season, his walk rate was 17.6 percent. This season, his struggles to throw strikes continued, as he walked three Cubs batters in his short start. A pitcher’s ability to limit walks often determines whether they have a successful Major League career as a starter or not. Cavalli will hopefully progress in his ability to avoid free passes as he looks to build on this encouraging start to the season, after making the first Opening Day start of his career.