Cavalli Silences De La Cruz and Reds as Nationals Cruise to a Win
Washington needed one night to fix what Philadelphia broke. A week after getting run through the wringer by the Phillies, the Nationals leaned on their starter and a resurgent bat to beat the Reds 5-3 on Friday.
Cade Cavalli was the story from the first pitch. The 27-year-old right-hander out of Oklahoma delivered a 45.5 fantasy-point outing, the kind of start that steadies a clubhouse that had dropped three of its last four. Cavalli mixed his pitches and kept the Reds' dangerous top of the order off balance most of the night, and by the time he was done, Washington had control of a game it badly wanted after Philadelphia had taken three of four just days earlier.
He didn't have to do it alone. Daylen Lile matched Cavalli's number exactly, also posting 45.5 fantasy points from right field, and the pairing of ace-caliber pitching with a bat that hot is usually enough to win most nights. Behind them, catcher Harry Ford chipped in 30.0 points, giving the Nationals three players who combined for over 120 fantasy points in a single game. That kind of top-heavy production is precisely what Washington had been missing during its skid against the Phillies, when no single hitter or arm consistently rose above the noise.
Cincinnati had answers, just not enough of them. Matt McLain, the second baseman out of UCLA, put together a strong night at 33.5 fantasy points, and Elly De La Cruz added 29.0 points at shortstop, a reminder of why the Reds have been one of the more entertaining lineups in the league early this season. Eugenio Suárez, at 35 still doing damage in the middle of that order, contributed 25.0 points, and reliever Luis Mey was effective enough out of the bullpen to post 24.2 points of his own. On paper, that's a formidable collection of performances. It just wasn't enough to offset what Washington got from the top of its own lineup card.
The final score, 5-3, doesn't fully capture how lopsided the individual performances were. Washington got its two best players to show up on the same night; Cincinnati got several good ones but nobody who separated the way Cavalli and Lile did. Brady House and CJ Abrams each added 8.0 fantasy points for the Nationals, modest but useful complementary numbers, while Jacob Young chipped in 4.5 from center. On the mound, Clayton Beeter, the Texas Tech product, provided 12.5 points in relief, and Orlando Ribalta added 7.5 to help close it out. It was a full-roster contribution, the kind of win that comes from depth as much as star power.
For Cincinnati, the concern isn't the loss itself so much as the shape of it. Zach McCambley managed only 9.5 fantasy points on the mound, HĂ©ctor RodrĂguez added 8.0 from left field, and Noelvi Marte and Ke'Bryan Hayes rounded out the offensive support with 12.0 and 4.5 points, respectively. Good, not great, and against a Cavalli-Lile combination operating at that level, good wasn't going to be enough.
What does this mean going forward? For Washington, it's a much-needed correction after a rough stretch against Philadelphia that saw them lose three of four, including a 0-5 shutout. If Cavalli keeps pitching like this and Lile keeps hitting like this, the Nationals have the makings of a lineup and rotation combination that can hang with anybody in the league this early season.
For Cincinnati, it's early enough in the year that one loss doesn't mean much. McLain and De La Cruz are clearly trending in the right direction, and Suárez at 35 still looks capable of carrying a lineup on any given night. But the Reds will want more consistency from their pitching staff if they want results like the McCambley outing to become the exception rather than the rule.
Fans building lineups around performances like Cavalli's and Lile's on JockBroker got rewarded in a big way Friday night, a reminder that in the early going, star performances still decide most games.