The Nationals are shutting down right-hander Cade Cavalli for the next two weeks due to shoulder inflammation, tweets Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post. Cavalli will be placed on the 15-day injured list.
At this point, the issue doesn’t seem to be terribly severe. Dougherty relays that Cavalli felt some discomfort in the day after his start and went for an MRI, which showed inflammation but no structural damage. “Everything looks good, except for he has a little bit of inflammation around the capsule,” manager Dave Martinez tells Jessica Camerato of MLB.com. “But the labrum, tendons, the rotator cuff, everything is very, very clean.” Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com relays word from Martinez, who says that they’re not shutting him down for the season because they want him to try to work back to health in the short-term, rather than just focussing on next year’s Spring Training.
The fact that the issue isn’t terribly serious is surely comforting for fans of the club, though the news also has to be at least somewhat deflating. It was just over a year ago that the club kicked off a rebuild by trading away many of their best players, including Max Scherzer and Trea Turner. This year, the club dug themselves even deeper in that hole by trading Juan Soto and Josh Bell. Amid all of that subtraction from the big league roster, one thing for fans to look forward to was the emergence of youngsters, with Cavalli being among the most exciting. Now he’s heading to the IL after just a single big league start and might not even appear again this season. In the long run, Cavalli can hopefully recover and make this minor setback a non-issue.
In the short-term, the club will have to patch over a hole in the rotation. Cory Abbott was optioned when Cavalli was called up and could be a candidate to return. Optioned players normally have to spend at least ten days off the roster before being added back on, though an exception is made when someone is going on the IL. Dougherty reports that Abbott was supposed to throw in Rochester today, the home of Washington’s Triple-A club, but was pulled off.
Didn’t he just get called up?
No.
He did last week
Yep. One start and done. Good thing they kid glove these pitchers nowadays, otherwise they might have to worry about injuries.
You can drive your car 90 mph and never get in a wreck. You could also total it going 45, but you’d have to be in a weird state of denial to not admit which one is more likely to get you hurt.
Except I would argue that modern pitchers aren’t even going 45. I would liken it more to driving on the interstate at 75 in the past vs driving 25 with your caution lights on now. You have to be crazy to not realize that only one of those cars is going to get to his destination on time.
This is such a great analogy that I am convinced you’ve rehearsed it and have used it multiple times
Their 1st pick in 2020—near the top of their prospect list and the headline says shutdown for two weeks.
If I’m running that team, they do every test imaginable and he doesn’t pick up a baseball until January.
Sure, because why would you want your top pitching prospect to actually…you know…pitch for you.
Professional sports is becoming like Magic the gathering where it’s just about attributes not performance.
Be patient with him.
He could be the next Stephen Strasburg.
@Samuel – both a blessing and a curse?
So a World Series MVP
No, a rich guy who hardly ever pitches
Because people alot smarter then you..(everone) realize the next 5 years are more important then the next 2 weeks
People seem to “lolmets” often, but it appears to me the Nationals are the dumpster fire of that division right now.
Could be a lot better that’s for sure!
Sheesh. These poor kids are throwing their arms out at 23-26 so often nowadays
It was just as common 40 years ago. The difference is we never would have cared about a Cade Cavalli if this were the 80’s. He would get hurt, his career was over, and he would be selling real estate in 18 months. Now, these guys can come back for another 10 years post injury.
It’s so hard to say “it was just as common 40 years ago.” Our ability, and preponderance to measure arm/shoulder damage is so much more advanced in 2022 than it was in 1982.
Personally, I’m of the belief that the evolution of training has led to both maximum results and also maximum damage to one’s body. Of course, this is just an “educated guess” and I don’t have any numbers to back it up.
Ive read that kids coming up into the majors already have way more wear and tear on their bodies than in previous generations because there’s so much more demand to succeed. They spend a lot of time in things like travel leagues.
I feel like it’s going to take me years to to realize Cade Cavalli is a legit prospect and a big part of their future considering every time I see his name I read Curt Casali.
Sixto Sanchez?