Cade Cavalli continues to do his part as Nationals push for wild-card spot

Dressed in his usual team-colored beanie and sweatpants, Cade Cavalli began his pre-start routine. He studied game plans and pored over scouting reports as he traversed through the clubhouse with his Powerbeats Fits earbuds nestled in his ears.

As he settled in at one of the tables for players, where they usually play chess, Cavalli had his notes and a bowl of food. But for a brief second, he paused his pregame preparation and glanced at the MLB Network segment playing on the television showing the two wild-card races for the National League and American League.

As much as baseball players are focused on the day-to-day, they’re cognizant of what these games mean. They approach each game the same, but the stakes are higher in the second half. For the Nationals to continue their hunt for a wild-card spot, they’ll need more from the rotation and bullpen.

But above all, they’ll need Cavalli to continue producing like a frontline starter, which he resembled in Tuesday’s 8-6 win over the Blue Jays. The offense returned to its usual form, chasing right-hander Shane Bieber out of the game in the first inning, the benefit of being patient and drawing three bases-loaded walks.

Cavalli ran into trouble in the second inning after issuing a leadoff walk. But the right-hander possesses the stuff to rectify his mistakes and avoid the big inning. He struck out Brandon Valenzuela and Daulton Varsho with knuckle curves. Ernie Clement reached base on a line-drive single, but Cavalli ended the inning when he went back to the knuckle curve to strike out Andrés Giménez.

“His stuff’s so good that he’s just able to be just off the barrel, even when he doesn’t have the perfect execution or stuff,” manager Blake Butera said. “But he’s such a competitor and a good athlete, that he’s able to to still work around that.”

Facing Toronto’s contact-oriented lineup, Cavalli delivered six quality innings and allowed two earned runs, six hits and two walks while striking out three and inducing a career-high 10 groundouts. He described his outing as “grind-y.”

“The defense played great,” Cavalli said. “A lot of balls put in play tonight, and they made it happen for me.”

Cavalli’s ability to get strikeouts is his greatest strength and separates him from the other Nationals starters. On Tuesday, he didn’t accumuluate a ton of whiffs like he’s accustomed to doing. But he got a good amount of weak contact.

It’s another step in the progress of Cavalli. Bieber, on the other hand, didn’t have his best stuff and command and watched it snowball in that four-run first inning.

“Whenever the grind-y outings happen, it’s usually because I’m behind in counts, not executing at the level that I would like,” Cavalli said. “To be able to throw pitches in those situations that we’re getting negative launch angle is huge, and I hope I can just keep doing that.”

The right-hander is second on the team in innings pitched (116 2/3 innings), first in strikeouts (130) and second in starter ERA (3.55). Tuesday’s quality start brought him to within one of team leader Foster Griffin (12). Zack Littell is the only other starter to have one.

Butera has spoken glowingly of Cavalli, who was named the team’s opening day starter this season, emphasizing that he has No. 1 bona fides.

A key part of that is he doesn’t cave when there’s traffic on the bases.

In the fourth inning Tuesday, Cavalli allowed a leadoff single to Valenzuela and a double to Varsho. He induced a flyout to right field — a strong throw by right fielder Dylan Crews held the runner at third — and a groundout to shortstop CJ Abrams that got an out at first but allowed a run to score. He then ended the inning on a fielder’s choice.

The Nationals will likely activate right-hander Trevor Williams, who is returning from an internal brace surgery performed on his right elbow in July 2025, off the injured list Wednesday.

He will likely start in the bullpen (right-hander Gus Varland was optioned Tuesday night after allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning). Starter Jake Irvin is also close to a return after being out since May with a right shoulder strain.

But more reinforcements are needed if the Nationals want to stay in the playoff hunt. Butera said in his first press conference after the Nationals traded corner infielder Curtis Mead to Boston for left-hander Connelly Early that the roster needed pitching to supplement a high-powered offense.

Knowing how lethal the offense is made Monday’s loss to Toronto — in which the pitching staff delivered a stout performance but the lineup didn’t have its usual production — sting, particularly in the thick of a playoff race.

“We all know what’s at stake,” said Crews, who hit his ninth home run of the season Tuesday. “We’re treating every game like it’s a playoff game right now; it’s awesome.”

The Nationals are 55-53 and one game back of the third wild-card spot. Though the players claim they try to focus on each game in front of them, they’re also not oblivious to the standings. Playing in games of consequence is thrilling.

“We’re pumped we’re in it,” Cavalli said. “I know that everybody’s paying attention to it, but like I said, we’re going to come in and just treat every day the same.”