In 2018, Cavalli's freshman year for the Oklahoma Sooners, he pitched to a 6.75 ERA over 17+1⁄3 innings while hitting .202 with six home runs and 28 RBIs over 58 games.[5] After the 2018 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[6] As a sophomore in 2019, Cavalli pitched to a 5–3 record and a 3.28 ERA over 12 starts along with batting .319 with four home runs and 17 RBIs in 19 games.[7][8] He missed three weeks during the season due to soreness.[9][10] That summer, he played for the United States collegiate national baseball team.[11][12] Cavalli entered his junior year in 2020 as a top prospect for the upcoming draft and was named the Big 12 Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year.[13][14] He made four starts in which he compiled a 4.18 ERA and 37 strikeouts over 23+2⁄3 innings before the college baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professional career
The Washington Nationals selected Cavalli in the first round, with the 22nd overall selection, in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft and he signed for a $3 million signing bonus.[15][16] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the pandemic.[17]
To begin the 2021 season, Cavalli was assigned to the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the High-A East with whom he made his professional debut.[18] After pitching to a 3–1 record and 1.77 ERA over 40+2⁄3 innings, he was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the Double-A Northeast on June 14.[19] That same month, Cavalli was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field.[20] In mid-August, after starting 11 games and going 3–3 with a 2.79 ERA and eighty strikeouts over 58 innings with Harrisburg, Cavalli was promoted to the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A East.[21] Over six starts with Rochester, he went 1–5 with 7.30 ERA.[22] His total of 175 strikeouts for the season between the three clubs led the minor leagues.[23] He returned to Rochester to begin the 2022 season.[24] He was selected to represent the Nationals at the 2022 All-Star Futures Game.[25]