Cade Cavalli Is BACK In D.C.

Cade Cavalli Is BACK In D.C.

The day I tore my arm, I remember telling people, “I’m going to come back bigger, better, stronger, as fast, and as efficient as possible.” And that was what was on my head the entire time. First, the news early this morning. Kate Kavali was pitching against the Mets on Tuesday in Port St. Lucy. Coming out of the game in the third inning, feeling a sensation from his right elbow down into his hand. The Nationals learned this morning he had a grade three tear of the ulna collateral ligament in his pitching elbow that required Tommy John surgery Kavali. If you could you describe him in one word a little bit. Intense. I remember that first throw like it was yesterday and it just felt amazing to have a ball come out of my hand again. When I got Kate a couple years ago, uh he was a young kid that came up with with some really high expectations because he was a a former first round pick and I think everybody was excited because he ran through the minor league system and he came up here for a start or two and and actually got called up and he got hurt. So they really haven’t seen Cade Kavali yet. The recovery process is it’s been a journey. A lot of ups and downs. Physically and mentally, there’s going to be battles. The physical part, it’s really easy to take care of cuz you can go in there, you can do your stuff. A huge thing for me is you get what you accept. If you’re going to go in and you’re going to miss a day doing your physical stuff, you get what you accept. That was something in the back of my head that I’m just like, I’m not going to ever let that happen. I’m not going to be able to go lay my head down at night and knowing that I skipped a rep. You’re doing the right things physically, but it’s sometimes really hard to prepare for what’s coming mentally cuz you don’t know what’s ahead and you don’t know how your emotions are going to play out. Mentally, there’s there’s some days where it sucked. You know, I I love competing. I love being around the boys in the locker room. I love going out there trying to win a ball game, trying to navigate a lineup. Those are things that I really miss. It takes some grit. It takes some uh fortitude and some steadfastness to be able to carry on the journey and understand that there’s going to be a day that I’ll be able to go do what I love again. And that’s what kept me driving through. Thankfully, prior to surgery, I had a lot of great people in my life that I felt like instilled the right things in me, and I was able to buy in on things that I believe are just part of who I am now and how I think about life in the game of baseball. Just making the next right, best choice. That’s that’s been major thing for me. I think him coming back from injury, what I’ve seen is more maturity with a more intense focus on what he’s trying to accomplish each and every day with his work preparation and his bullpin sessions. And I’m telling you, he’s right where he needs to be. And I’m sure it won’t be long till he gets back to DC after 2 years of absence. You got to celebrate your small wins. my first rehab game, you know, it felt like I was making my big league debut again. I felt ready to go. Felt the jitters, just things that I missed so much that those things you got to celebrate. I was able to get here, get done with my rehab process, still feeling great, healthy. I’m just ready to rock.

The journey back to the bigs is complete for 2018 Nationals first-round pick Cade Cavalli.

@RocRedWings
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