Welcome to the big leagues, Cade Cavalli.
The Washington Nationals’ 2020 first round draft pick and more than 31,000 fans at Nats Park on Friday night hoped he’d be the first Washington pitcher since Stephen Strasburg in 2009 to win his major league debut.
But the 24-year-old right-hander instead took the team’s 42nd straight turn by a starter without getting a win in a 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, while continuing a streak of Nats’ pitchers who came away from their MLB debuts without a “Curly W.”
The rest of the team’s young core, catcher Kiebert Ruiz, shortstop CJ Abrams, and second baseman Luis García, offered plenty of help in Cavalli’s first career loss, showing they, too, need a lot of work to stay in the major leagues, let alone become the stars we’re hoping for.