Chicago Cubs Draft: Cade Cavalli picking up steam as potential ace

Baseball America has pegged Oklahoma’s Cade Cavalli as a future ace, and he’d be a perfect first-round draft selection for the Chicago Cubs

As a firm believer that starting pitching will be addressed within the first couple of rounds, the Chicago Cubs have a number of directions they can go. We recently discussed Georgia’ Cole Wilcox as being a risky pick, but given his upside, he would be worth it. The same case can be made for Oklahoma’s Cade Cavalli.

Originally drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 2017 MLB Draft, Cavalli did not sign and chose to play collegiate baseball. Now he’s looking like a potential first-round pick, and he’s recently been moved up from a late first-round pick to a mid-first-round pick on Baseball America’s draft board.

Cavalli made 62 appearances – including two starts – during his freshman campaign. He posted a 6.75 ERA and struck out 18 batters in 17.1 innings, but he also allowed 13 walks. The following year, he moved into the rotation making 12 starts while striking out 59 batters in 60.1 innings. Still, he allowed 35 free passes.

He played in the Cape Cod League between his freshman and sophomore years, working on his mechanics, but it would seem that yielded little results. In 13.0 innings, Cavalli struck out 15 batters while also allowing 15 walks. So why do I think he has a high upside?

For starters, he already has the ideal size of a future ace. At 6-foot-4, 226 pounds, he has the same measurements as Clayton Kershaw. Cavalli is a big righty with an overwhelming fastball, one that often touches the upper 90s. Scouts love his secondary pitches in his slider, changeup, and curveball but question his ability to hide the ball out of his delivery.

Cavalli dealt with back issues during his senior season in high school and only made 12 starts in 2019 because of a stress reaction in his arm. He would be a precarious pick and could potentially fall to the second round because of his injury concerns. However, he already has four above-average pitches, which is why BA pegs him as a potential ace.

If he can clean up his command, the upside is tremendous. And before the pandemic shut everything down, Cavalli made four starts this year, posting a 4.18 ERA but struck out 37 batters in 23.2 innings. More importantly, he allowed just five walks. I’d like to see what the Cubs pitching lab could do for him. He’s a very intriguing pick for me but obviously comes with some concerns.