Cade Cavalli

Steven Cade Cavalli (born August 14, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected 22nd overall by the Nationals in the 2020 MLB draft and made his MLB debut in 2022. Amateur career Cavalli attended Bixby High School in Bixby, Oklahoma, where he played baseball. In 2016, his junior year, he had a 7–1 win–loss record with a 2.02 earned run average (ERA) along with a .416 batting average, four home runs and 47 runs batted in (RBIs) at the plate. He missed a majority of his senior season in 2017 due to a back injury. He was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 29th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign and instead enrolled at the University of Oklahoma where he played college baseball. In 2018, Cavalli's freshman year for the Oklahoma Sooners, he pitched to a 6.75 ERA over innings while hitting .202 with six home runs and 28 RBIs over 58 games. After the 2018 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League. As a sophomore in 2019, Cavalli pitched to a 5–3 record and a 3.28 ERA over 12 starts along with batting .319 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 19 games. He missed three weeks during the season due to soreness. That summer, he played for the United States collegiate national baseball team. Cavalli entered his junior year in 2020 as a top prospect for the upcoming draft and was named the Big 12 Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year. He made four starts in which he compiled a 4.18 ERA and 37 strikeouts over innings before the college baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Professional career The Washington Nationals selected Cavalli in the first round, with the 22nd overall selection, in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft and he signed for a $3 million signing bonus. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the pandemic.