Cavalli, Cronin promoted to Double-A; first All-Star votes revealed

Cade Cavalli's dominant first six weeks of professional baseball have earned the Nationals' top prospect a quick promotion to Double-A.

The Nats are moving Cavalli and Matt Cronin from high Single-A Wilmington up to Harrisburg, rewarding both pitchers for their impressive starts to the minor league season, a source familiar with the promotions confirmed.

Cavalli, the organization's first-round draft pick last summer, has quickly rocketed up prospect lists by overwhelming the competition at high Single- A. In seven starts for Wilmington, the right-hander went 3-1 with a 1.77 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 71 strikeouts in only 40 2/3 innings.

In his most recent start Saturday, Cavalli tossed seven no-hit innings, striking out 15, before getting pulled with his pitch count at 97. That will prove to have been his final outing for the Blue Rocks, with a debut start for Harrisburg likely to come later this week.

The 22-year-old from Oklahoma spent last summer at the Nationals' alternate training site in Fredericksburg after he was drafted 22nd in the country. He got the chance to pitch a bit in big league camp this spring before preparing to open the minor league season in early May.

Cavalli's performance has caught the attention of the minor league world. Baseball America recently catapulted him up to its 33rd ranked prospect in the sport, up 49 spots from the publication's previous ranking.

Cronin hasn't made as many headlines as Cavalli, but the 23-year-old lefty has earned his promotion just as much. A fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, the former Arkansas pitcher posted a 1.23 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, four saves and 28 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings out of the Wilmington bullpen so far this season.

Also stuck at the alternate training site in 2020, Cronin hasn't missed a beat following his impressive 2019 professional debut, when he had an 0.82 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 22 innings for the Nationals' former low Single-A affiliate in Hagerstown.

The Washington Post was first to report today's promotions.

* Major League Baseball unveiled the first batch of voting results for this year's All-Star Game, and only two Nationals regulars appear anywhere near the leaderboard.

Both Juan Soto and Trea Turner rank fifth at their respective positions. Soto has received 195,950 votes, well behind Mookie Betts (400,202) for fourth place among National League outfielders. Ronald Acuña Jr. leads all outfielders with 834,287 votes, with Reds teammates Nick Castellanos (568,758) and Jesse Winker (462,692) also in position to win starting spots.

Turner has received 111,889 votes, trailing Fernando Tatis Jr. (701,251), Javier Báez (233,644), Corey Seager (153,863) and Brandon Crawford (122,536) among NL shortstops.

No other Nationals rank among the top 10 vote-getters at any of the eight positions on the ballot.