WASHINGTON \u2014 It is important that Cade Cavalli express remorse, which he has. It is more important that he and the Washington Nationals fully understand why he should.<\/p>\n
Cavalli, the Nationals\u2019 budding star right-hander, is appealing the seven-game suspension that he and Boston\u2019s Willson Contreras both received Thursday<\/a> for their individual roles in the benches-clearing run-in at Fenway Park on Tuesday evening<\/a>. After Cavalli struck out Contreras in the fourth inning of Washington\u2019s 8-1 victory, he shouted at Contreras, \u201csit down, boy!\u201d After Cavalli followed by twice saying \u201cyou heard me!\u201d, Contreras took offense, charged the mound, and both benches cleared.<\/p>\n Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas, who grabbed Contreras during the altercation, got a five-game suspension. Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton, who grabbed Mikolas, leading to the two of them grappling, got a three-game suspension.<\/p>\n Cavalli, apparently, has said that phrase to lots of people he\u2019s struck out over the years during his climb up the ranks. That includes White guys<\/a>. Contreras, though, is Venezuelan. The historical connotation of a White man calling a man of color \u201cboy,\u201d no matter how competitive that man might be, is not cool. It doesn\u2019t matter if your White dad said it to you when you were a kid. The history of this nation is riddled with White people using the term \u201cboy\u201d to infantilize Black men of all ages and all achievements, to make them feel less than equal. Nor is it something that happened in the long-ago past, a relic of history<\/a>.<\/p>\n And ignorance \u2014 or, in the case of some people and\/or bots on social media, denial that this is a thing at all \u2014 is not an excuse.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough couple of days,\u201d Cavalli said in the Nationals\u2019 clubhouse Friday afternoon before the Nats played the Pirates. \u201cIt\u2019s been tough to sleep. Just never thought in a million years that I\u2019d be in this situation. I know where my heart is. I\u2019ve learned that people around me know where my heart is. The unwavering support from my teammates, my family, this staff, I\u2019m just very grateful for them. It\u2019s \u2026 it\u2019s been hard.\u201d<\/p>\n No one doubts that. No one wants to be labeled as racist or racially insensitive. I don\u2019t know anything about Cavalli\u2019s upbringing other than he\u2019s from Oklahoma. Regardless, Cavalli isn\u2019t the victim here.<\/p>\n Keith Law’s Big Board for the 2026 MLB Draft<\/p>\n Keith Law<\/p>\n Contreras, to be sure, didn\u2019t cover himself in glory during all this, either. Earlier in Tuesday\u2019s game, he cut across the diamond after making the third out and nearly ran into Cavalli, who was leaving the mound.<\/p>\n The baseball online reporter Jimmy O\u2019Brien, known as Jomboy, who has excelled over the years at reading players\u2019 and managers\u2019 lips during and after confrontations, said in a post<\/a> that he\u2019d gone back and looked at every play since 2020 at Fenway where a runner on second rounded third as the final out of a half-inning ended, to see if anyone else had cut across the field in the pitcher\u2019s path as Contreras did. Then he looked at every out of Contreras\u2019 career when he\u2019d previously been rounding third when the final out was recorded, to see if he\u2019d done it before. For what it\u2019s worth, Jomboy said no other runner had done so since \u201920 at Fenway, and Contreras had never done it in his career until Tuesday.<\/p>\n To be sure: MLB\u2019s discipline for players involved in non-fighting incidents seems to follow no particular pattern. One can ask why Cavalli\u2019s words warranted a seven-game suspension and five-figure fine, when the Cubs\u2019 Pete Crow-Armstrong was fined just $5,000 and not suspended<\/a> after yelling a vulgar epithet at a female fan who told him \u201cyou suck\u201d during a game in May. Or why then-Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel was only suspended for the first five games of the 2018 season and ordered to undergo sensitivity training<\/a> after making a racist gesture towards Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish during the 2017 World Series.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think race was front of mind in Cavalli\u2019s head when he said what he said; competing at the highest level in the world was. But, words matter. They can enlighten, inspire \u2014 and enrage. And that\u2019s why this can be, and should be, a teachable moment.<\/p>\n The Nationals should not leave their young pitcher to figure out the best way to move forward by himself. This is something the organization, from its top, needs to lead, and to show it\u2019s still serious about being a good steward in the city it\u2019s called home since 2005.<\/p>\n Cavalli is not some call-up from Rochester, here to eat innings. He\u2019s a potential ace, and he showed it in Boston on Tuesday, dominating the Red Sox through seven powerful innings, retiring the last 19 batters and striking out 13. Per Fangraphs, Cavalli was tied for 19th among pitchers going into Friday\u2019s games in WAR at 2.1 \u2014 tied, ironically, with Washington\u2019s previous hope for a No. 1 starter, MacKenzie Gore, now in Texas. Cavalli could be up for a pretty large payday after 2027, when he is eligible for arbitration.<\/p>\n He\u2019s worked his tail off since undergoing Tommy John surgery three years ago,<\/a> doing exactly what he said he\u2019d do \u2013 attack his rehab diligently to reclaim the place the Nats thought he\u2019d assume when they took him in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. There\u2019s a reason Blake Butera named him the Opening Day starter.<\/p>\n But this is about what kind of team the Nationals plan to be, in a city unlike others with Major League Baseball teams.<\/p>\n Of course, the team and its players are visible throughout the community, giving their time to various charity events and causes throughout the year. The Nationals\u2019 Youth Baseball Academy in Southeast, a staple since 2013, is a wonderful venue for both boys\u2019 baseball teams in middle and high schools, and for girls\u2019 softball teams. But this incident gives the organization a chance to dig even deeper into the community.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to do during the season, of course, when off days are scarce. But the offseason could provide Cavalli a chance to be a more regular presence in the community. Across South Capitol Street, where Nationals Park is built, there is a neighborhood full of people of color. Having real and repeated connections with a Nationals player like Cavalli could connect the team more with the people closest to it.<\/p>\n Cavalli could also work with local schools or colleges on programs that make the real racial history of places like Tulsa, Okla., the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre<\/a>, more accessible to more people. The Nats could contribute resources toward such endeavors.<\/p>\n The Nats\u2019 new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni, said in a statement Friday, \u201cThis has obviously been a tough couple of days on Cade. I\u2019ve been around a lot of people in this game, whether it\u2019s players, coaches, or front-office personnel, and in terms of character and values, Cade is right there at the top. I\u2019m also proud of how he\u2019s handled this situation specifically; he\u2019s learned from it, in large part because he\u2019s thoughtful, humble, and empathetic. Maybe most importantly, anyone who knows Cade knows this: he really cares about being a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n Washington isn\u2019t Chocolate City anymore. The city\u2019s residents are now almost evenly split between Black and White residents. But this is still a city of color. There are longtime, native Black American families here, to be sure. But there are Latinos, and immigrants from Europe and Africa. And there are White people. Most of all of them want to feel welcome and comfortable at Nats Park, and feel comfortable cheering for the team and its rising young star pitcher.<\/p>\n There are very few Major League teams whose two biggest stars are young, African-American men, like the Nationals\u2019 James Wood and CJ Abrams. The Nats have fans of all colors, of course. But Black kids in the DMV, who are seeing a small uptick in the number of players that look like them in MLB dugouts after decades of decline,<\/a> surely take particular pride in what Wood and Abrams do \u2014 and rep the Nats hard. As the parent of a teenager who played four years of center field in DCIAA baseball, and loved every second of it, this hits home.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t about religion or politics. What Cavalli thinks about God, or which lever he pulls in the voting booth, are none of my business. But people who put on uniforms in this town that say \u201cWashington\u201d across the chest need to know that word means something, both to people who look like Cavalli, and those who do not.<\/p>\n So I asked Cavalli about how he hoped to better represent the city going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI always want to reflect my heart, and who I am,\u201d Cavalli said. \u201cAnd the way I want to carry myself is (with) love. I compete, and I want to be a part of the community that I\u2019m in. I want them to know that I love this city. I love playing here. I love the group of guys around me. I love the staff that we\u2019ve brought in. It\u2019s been an incredible change. And I want to be reflective of this organization in the highest way possible. And when I\u2019m on the field, I want to give us a chance to win the ballgame every single time. That\u2019s why I play this game. Anything that I find my hands doing, I\u2019m going to do with all my might.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thought of being the (front-facing guy), it doesn\u2019t necessarily cross my head. I want to be part of this team. I care about what we do over the course of 162 games, and getting to October. And I just want to be one of the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Butera, Friday, agreed that this could be a moment to learn, even if it gets uncomfortable.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been struggling these last few days,\u201d Butera said of Cavalli. \u201cIt\u2019s been hard on him. He made a mistake; he knows that. His family\u2019s felt it, also. Just the conversations we\u2019ve had with him, the conversations he\u2019s had with his teammates, the type of person Cade is, I think that\u2019s the hardest thing. The type of person he is, I\u2019d be more concerned if this wasn\u2019t hurting him as much as it is hurting him.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, it will be a year since the Nationals fired former GM Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez.<\/a> With Toboni and Butera leading the way, they\u2019ve had a wildly unexpected first half of the season. They\u2019re in the wild-card hunt. They\u2019ve gotten monster production from Wood and Abrams, and surprising lifts from the likes of Foster Griffin and Curtis Mead. The farm system, which looked so fallow a year ago, is showing many of the same signs of revitalization as the parent club<\/a>. As the All-Star break nears, Washington\u2019s new leadership has much of which it can justly be proud.<\/p>\n Taking the lead in helping Cavalli mature, in ways that have nothing to do with his stuff, would be among their most important and lasting works.<\/p>\n Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated who grabbed Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas and received a three-game suspension for it. It was Red Sox utility player Nate Eaton, not interim manager Chad Tracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 It is important that Cade Cavalli express remorse, which he has. 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