Cade Cavalli of the Washington Nationals Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

Nationals New Ace Cade Cavalli Upgraded His Pitch Arsenal

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Feb 14, 2026 4:03 PM ET

Once again, the Washington Nationals will have a new starting pitcher on Opening Day.

For the fourth year in a row, someone new will toe the rubber to get the season started after MacKenzie Gore was traded to the Texas Rangers. While there is a ways to go before the Nationals face the Chicago Cubs to get their 2026 campaign underway, the front-runner to start that opening game is Cade Cavalli.

The new ace is sliding into a role many expected him to have when he was taken 22nd overall in the 2020 draft. But injuries have held the right-hander back, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 that kept him on the shelf until he returned to the big league mound on Aug. 6 of last year.

Cavalli was solid with a 4.25 ERA across his 10 starts. However, there were also some glaring weaknesses in his game that he's trying to address heading into the upcoming season.

Cade Cavalli Has Added a Sweeper to His Pitch Arsenal

Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Surprisingly, the righty had reverse splits last year. He was more effective against left-handed hitters than right-handed ones, as he held lefties to a .221 batting average while righties teed off against him with a .381 batting average.

Because of that, Cavalli seemingly searched for answers this offseason to improve his performance against right-handed hitters. And according to Jessica Camerato of MLB.com, he has added a sweeper to his arsenal that will pair with his four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, changeup and curveball.

Cade Cavalli ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/xjU1GUEYBd
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 16, 2025

The sweeper will give Cavalli a pitch that can attack righty hitters with horizontal break to pair with a sinker that will run in and a fastball that has high velocity. Since this pitch was added over the winter, it's hard to know how effective it's going to be early on during the upcoming season. But the hope is it will turn into a real weapon once he gets more reps throwing it in live action.

If the sweeper is able to reduce the damage right-handers do against Cavalli, then that will be a huge development for both the 27-year-old and the Nationals as they turn the keys over to him at the top of this rotation.

Even after his long layoff, Cavalli showcased elite stuff with his Stuff+ figure being above the league average. Three of his pitches -- the four-seamer, sinker and changeup -- were above the league average on their own, so adding another high-end pitch to counteract the success righties had against him could take his game to the next level.

How his new sweeper does will be something to watch throughout spring training and during the early part of the 2026 campaign, as Cavalli will need to perform like an ace-level arm for Washington throughout the season.