Nats prospects Baker, Cavalli selected for Futures Game

By MASN Staff

Nationals

July 07, 2022, 1:30pm

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Washington Nationals infielder Darren Baker and right-handed pitcher Cade Cavalli have been selected to represent the organization in the 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. Major League Baseball made the announcement today on MLB Network’s “MLB Central.” The 23^rd SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game features the top Minor League prospects competing as part of the first-ever All-Star Saturday.

Baker, 23, a 10^th round pick by the Nationals in 2021 out of the University of California-Berkeley, is hitting .264 with 13 doubles, one triple, one home run, 20 RBI, 20 walks, 10 stolen bases and 36 runs scored in 55 games with High-A Wilmington. Baker hit safely in 33 of his first 39 games of the season, hitting .304 with a .351 on-base percentage and a .418 slugging percentage during this stretch.

In two Minor League seasons, Baker has hit .283 with 17 doubles, two triples, one homer, 26 RBI, 26 walks, 12 stolen bases and 41 runs scored in 77 professional games.

Cavalli, 23, ranks tied for third in Washington’s Minor League system with 68 strikeouts. He is 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA (10 ER/39.0 IP), 41 strikeouts and a .182 opponents’ batting average in his last seven starts. Most recently, Cavalli retired the first 17 batters he faced en route to 7.0 innings of two-hit, shutout ball on July 6 at Lehigh Valley. In that start, he struck out seven batters without issuing a walk. In 14 starts for Triple-A Rochester, Cavalli is 4-3 with a 4.54 ERA and 9.1 strikeouts per 9.0 innings.

In his first full season at the Triple-A level, Cavalli is Washington’s top prospect according to Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com. He is rated by Baseball America as the No. 35 prospect and by MLBPipeline.com as the No. 48 prospect in all of baseball. He will be appearing in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game for the second time after representing the Nationals in Colorado in 2021.

The 2022 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game will be played at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 16, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Scheduled for seven innings, the game will be live on Peacock and SiriusXM, and MLB Network will re-air the contest beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 17.