theathleticuk
WASHINGTON Washington Nationals right-hander Cade Cavalli searched for normalcy on Sunday morning, if there was such a thing to find before a start such as this one.
He sat alone at his locker and paged through his white binder, eyeing each element of the scouting report as he always does.
He wore a red beanie, as he always does, gray wireless headphones, as he always does, and then was covered in sweat by first pitch, as he always is.
Advertisement Then, five days after the best start of his young MLB career coincided with one of his worst moments, he was yanked after just 2 1/3 innings in Sundays 11-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 94-degree heat was his unraveling, manager Blake Butera said.
It wasnt the only backdrop that colored the outing.
You can think about (the past week), but I always say when I get out there, Im out there, said Cavalli, who allowed four runs (three earned) in his start.
So whatevers happened in the week doesnt really matter.
I for sure had less sleep than normal this week.
But thats no excuse.
Five days had passed since Tuesdays start against the Boston Red Sox.
It was an outing in which first baseman Willson Contreras irked Cavalli in the first by brushing by him at the end of the inning.
Later, Cavalli irked Contreras in the fourth inning by yelling, Sit down, boy using a word that had historically racist connotations, though Cavalli said the next day he did not know that and later vowed to remove the word from his vocabulary.
The chirping incited a scuffle that led to four ejections and four suspensions.
MLB felt Cavallis comment was inappropriate and merited discipline, according to a league source briefed on the decision, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The league is still deliberating on Cavallis appeal of the seven-game suspension, as is the case for the other three suspended players.
Cavallis response off the field has felt (and will continue to feel) more important than his response on it.
Multiple times since the incident, Cavalli has said he felt heartbroken and lost sleep over the way his words were perceived.
But with the Nationals (46-45) focused on a surprising postseason race and the focus as narrow as ever on their Opening Day starter, the saga does introduce on-field consequences.
It means there is still a balance to find, one Cavalli has sought since returning to MLB last year: harnessing his emotions rather than letting them harness him.
Advertisement Im not necessarily compartmentalizing, Cavalli said.
I use all the emotions in a positive way.
Ive felt a lot of love and support over the week as well, compared to all the negativity thats been thrown this way.
But I just want to use the positive stuff, and, like I said, I want to just go out there and get outs.
It was a tough day, and Im ready to get back after it the next time I get a chance to.
Though he sometimes downplays this detail after starts, it is clear how much each outing means to him.
Nearly three years which included one Tommy John surgery and multiple setbacks separated his first MLB start from his second.
The stakes were higher on Sunday.
He was pitching on five days of rest, instead of the six he had initially been scheduled for.
He was following a career-high 100 pitches (and career-high 13 strikeouts).
His stuff looked sharp in the first inning, but faded as he spent more time under the sun.
He had a headache that didnt go away.
And then, there was the incident in Boston.
Hes had a lot to work through, obviously, the past five days, Butera said.
Been a lot on his plate.
But look, I thought he was in a good headspace, given everything thats occurred this past week.
Cavalli spent the days before his start focusing more on the physical preparation.
He drank extra fluids.
He rested up as best he could.
But after a pitch in the second inning, he started to feel light-headed.
The impulse was to keep it inside and slow his pace.
Between innings, he went to the tunnel to get cold.
Something was off.
He again insisted it was physical.
Usually, the 27-year-old pitches with a fiery demeanor, smacking his glove as he tries to use adrenaline on the mound.
On Sunday, he was more reserved as the game played out around him.
When grounders sneaked through the infield, his body language was uneventful.
When he committed a two-base error on a pickoff attempt in the second that eventually allowed a run to score, he centered himself with a few deep breaths.
But there was little exaggerated body language, no sign between moments that anything out of the ordinary was happening on the mound, save for a soft slap of the glove in the third inning after Bryan Reynolds smacked a changeup over the wall in right-center.
Later that inning, after Cavalli left a slow curveball up in the zone, head athletic trainer Dale Gilbert and manager Blake Butera came out to check on the right-hander.
He seemed to insist he was fine, rubbing his palm into the dirt as he had all afternoon, to suggest the issue was sweat.
His final fastball clocked in at 93 mph.
His final curveball was yanked into the dirt.
After one more pitch outside, he was done.
It was a really weird feeling that I was having, Cavalli said.
But its no excuse for how I threw the ball.