Will Young Right-Hander Be Odd Man Out in Rotation for Washington Nationals?
The Washington Nationals are heading into the offseason with a lot of hope and optimism about the very near future for the franchise.
Last year, the Nationals might have only won 71 games, but there were a lot of bright spots and reasons to believe in the core of the team moving forward. Washington features some of the best young position players in the league, like CJ Abrams, Luis Garcia Jr., and James Wood.
In the starting rotation, there are a few pitchers that have a lot of upside, like MacKenzie Gore, Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin, and DJ Herz. Those four are likely to earn their spot in the starting rotation to start 2025, but there will be a lot of possibilities for who is in the final spot.
If Washington is looking to be aggressive this offseason in free agency, adding a frontline starter to this rotation would be a massive boost. Since Patrick Corbin’s contract is coming off the books, adding a veteran to lead these young pitchers makes a lot of sense.
With adding a veteran being a possibility, it could have an impact on some of the younger pitchers like Cade Cavalli, who are looking for a spot in the rotation. Recently, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports spoke about what 2025 could look like for the young right-hander.
“Are the Nationals still looking at Cavalli as part of the plan in 2025? Publicly, they say yes. But they also know they’ve got four returning young, healthy starters in MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz. General manager Mike Rizzo is almost certainly going to pursue at least one veteran starter this winter to replace the departed Corbin. And there’s a new crop of prospects waiting in the wings to debut, including Brad Lord, Andrew Alvarez and Tyler Stuart at Triple-A Rochester and eventually, younger flamethrowers Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora.”
Unfortunately for Cavalli, being on the Opening Day roster in the rotation seems pretty unlikely as of now. With just one potential spot to grab in the starting rotation, the 26-year-old is likely going to have an extremely impressive spring in order to grab a spot.
Since the right-hander is coming back from Tommy John surgery, getting healthy and getting reps in spring training and potentially in the minors at the start of 2025 might be the best course of action.
Even though Cavalli surely wants a crack at the majors, he must be ready for when an opportunity calls.
