Cavalli, Rutledge overcome nerves in spring debuts

There were nerves, for sure. This was, after all, the first time Cade Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge had pitched in a big league spring training game. Not to mention the first time either of the Nationals' top two pitching prospects had faced hitters from another organization in a year.

So it perhaps wasn't surprising when Cavalli opened the bottom of the second today in Port St. Lucie, Fla., with a walk and a misplayed comebacker. Nor was it surprising when Rutledge opened the bottom of the third surrendering a leadoff single and then falling behind the next batter 3-0.

There's a reason the Nationals are so high on their last two first-round draft picks, though, and both showed why before their debut innings were over during what ended as an 8-4 loss to the Mets.

Cavalli, faced with a first-and-third, one-out jam, proceeded to strike out Khalil Lee and Drew Ferguson back-to-back on fastballs that registered 97-98 mph. One inning later, Rutledge flashed a nifty pickoff move to nab Brandon Nimmo at first base and then struck out Jeff McNeil on a 96 mph fastball and Dominic Smith on a 3-2 slider to win an 11-pitch battle.

"We want to see what they do when things are a little tough," manager Davey Martinez said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "We watched their breathing. We watched their mechanics. And for the most part, those guys were pretty good today. There's still a lot of work to be done, obviously, but it was nice to get their feet wet. They had big smiles on their faces when they came out of the game. ... We've got something special with these guys."

That the organization's top two prospects debuted on the same day wasn't by design, Martinez insisted. Nor was it intentional to have them pitch in a nationally televised game. (Not that ESPN spent even one second talking about them during a 3 1/2-hour broadcast that featured nonstop interviews with players, managers and other guests.)

But it certainly worked out nicely. And those who were able to block out the background chatter and actually watch Cavalli and Rutledge pitch likely saw what Ryan Zimmerman saw earlier this spring the first time he noticed the pair in the bullpen in West Palm Beach.

"You hear a lot of times about prospects, and then unfortunately you watch them throw and you're kind of like ... ehhh," the longest tenured player in the organization said. "I'm not gonna name anyone, but I just feel like sometimes you read about these guys and then it's a little underwhelming. And to have five, six, seven guys where you've read about them and then you watch them throw, and they actually live up to what they're supposed to be, it's kind of exciting."

Zimmerman, who in his second game of the spring hit his second homer of the spring, had some welcome words of encouragement for Cavalli after the 2020 first-round pick got into his jam with a leadoff walk of James McCann and his botched retrieval and throw of Luis Guillorme's comebacker.

"It was just like: 'Laugh it off. It happened, you know?'" Cavalli said. "Zim told me: 'Hey, pick me up right here.' I just made an error on my part. I should've been better. And I went and got two Ks, picked them up, and that's what the team is about. That's what we're going to do this year."

Cavalli, who threw 13 of his 24 pitches for strikes, induced five swings and misses, including two on a changeup that registered 88-90 mph. Working with veteran catcher Yan Gomes, he figured out how to mix in his off-speed pitches - he also threw an 86-mph slider - with a fastball that averaged 97 mph.

Admittedly nervous when he took the mound - "It was good nerves," he insisted - the 22-year-old from Oklahoma was glad to finally get his professional debut out of the way after spending last summer pitching only to teammates at the alternate training site in Fredericksburg.

"Honestly, just being out there, I took a look around, I'm in a Nats uniform in a big league game," he said. "That's what I've dreamed of since I was a kid. Yeah, it's an exhibition. But I'm going to go out there and compete like it's not. It's Game 7 to me every time."

Rutledge, likewise, had some butterflies when he came in from the bullpen for the bottom of the third. And in the 21-year-old Missouri native's case, a trio of Mets big leaguers awaited him.

Rutledge gave up a quick single to Nimmo and then fell behind in the count 3-0 to McNeil. But his pickoff of Nimmo on a lightning-quick move from a lanky pitcher who stands 6-foot-8 turned the tide in the inning. He proceeded to strike out McNeil on a 3-2 high fastball, then battled through an 11-pitch marathon against Smith before whipping out an 83-mph slider to strike out the slugger and end a 19-pitch inning.

"I was really trusting in my catcher, letting him determine," Rutledge said of Gomes. "He's seen a lot of innings and a lot of 3-2 at-bats, so I put my confidence in him and he put down three (fingers). I was fully confident throwing a slider there, and everything worked out."

Drafted one year apart from each other, Rutledge and Cavalli have become close. They spent all last summer pitching together in Fredericksburg, and they're now in their first big league camp together, along with fellow young pitching prospects Cole Henry and Matt Cronin.

Not so close that they were all willing to carpool together today from West Palm Beach to Port St. Lucie. They wound up making the 45-minute drive in separate cars, though they did caravan up Interstate-95 and had some fun with each other along the way.

"It was different, a bunch of big guys in a bunch of big trucks," Rutledge said. "It was a haul out there, but it was fun. Just kind of blasting some 'Rage Against the Machine,' getting me fired up and getting ready to go."

The Nationals are beginning to get to know these young pitchers, and they're beginning to develop trust in them. Not only on the mound. In perhaps his biggest show of faith ever in a player who has yet to reach the major leagues, Martinez actually let Cavalli give him a haircut last week. Twenty-four hours before the team's one and only official Photo Day.

"It took a while," the manager said. "I think he was nervous cutting my hair. It took him a good hour to get done. But we talked a lot, we had some good conversation. I thought he did a good job."

Cavalli, who does actually have considerable experience as a clubhouse barber, was asked if the fact Martinez still let him pitch today was evidence he did a good job.

"I guess so," the pitcher said. "I didn't mess it up too bad."

The same could be said of his professional debut this afternoon. There may have been some early nerves, but the finished product earned rave reviews.