As the season moves deeper into August, a starting pitcher’s value is measured not only by dominance but by how efficiently a club manages its innings.
Cade Cavalli, Braxton Ashcraft, and Max Scherzer each supplied a different version of that equation on Thursday. Cavalli reinforced his status as Washington’s leading starter with eight innings against the Cubs. Ashcraft delivered a complete game in only 85 pitches for Pittsburgh. Scherzer added another milestone to a career built on durability, even in a loss to Boston.
These performances carry different implications. Cavalli is pitching without the innings cap he discussed after making his 25th start last Friday. Ashcraft has already passed last year’s workload. Scherzer’s 3,000-inning landmark places the scale of his career in sharper focus.
Cavalli’s eight innings strengthen Washington’s case for trust
Cavalli took a no-hitter into the seventh inning during Washington’s 7-0 win over the Cubs, completing eight frames for the first time in his career. He retired the first 15 batters he faced and needed only 54 pitches to get through five innings against a Cubs club that had averaged 7.1 runs per game over its previous nine contests.
The right-hander’s only early blemish was a leadoff walk to Dansby Swanson in the sixth, but he erased it with a double play. Michael Busch then broke up the no-hit bid with a two-out single in the seventh. Cavalli finished with 10 strikeouts and worked around another walk in the eighth.
That outing extended Cavalli’s quality-start streak to seven, the longest active run in the Majors and the longest by a Nationals starter since Scherzer recorded 14 straight in 2019. It also arrived after Cavalli had already made 25 starts, his highest total in any professional season.
Cavalli said he was grateful there was no cap on him and that he could keep pitching. Manager Blake Butera’s comments indicated how close the club came to a larger workload decision during the game, saying Cavalli’s early efficiency looked like “complete-game type of pitching.”
Washington did not need to force that decision because Cavalli’s eight innings had already delivered a high return in pitches saved for the bullpen. For a pitcher moving beyond his prior professional workload, the ability to cover that length while remaining efficient is as meaningful as the no-hit bid itself.
Ashcraft’s efficiency offers Pittsburgh relief, but with a limit
Ashcraft’s complete game was even more economical. The Pirates right-hander threw 85 pitches in a 13-1 victory over the Marlins, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out 10. A solo homer by Owen Caissie leading off the ninth spoiled the shutout, but Miami otherwise did not advance a runner beyond first base.
Pittsburgh turned three double plays behind him and also caught a runner attempting to steal second. Ashcraft’s outing marked the Pirates’ first complete game of fewer than 100 pitches since Ivan Nova in 2017.
The performance was timely after Ashcraft’s ERA had risen by a run over his previous seven starts. Yet the workload issue is more immediate for Pittsburgh than it is for Cavalli. Ashcraft threw a career-high 118 innings between the minors and Majors last season, and Thursday’s outing pushed the 26-year-old above 140 innings.
The complete game reduced one day’s burden on the Pirates’ relief corps, but it also added to the total that could lead the club to cap him down the stretch. Thursday showed the most efficient version of Ashcraft’s value, but it did not remove the reason for caution.
Scherzer, meanwhile, supplied the long-career comparison point in Toronto. The 42-year-old allowed one run over five innings with four strikeouts against the Red Sox, though Boston won 7-0 behind Payton Tolle’s eight two-hit innings. Scherzer crossed 3,000 career innings and now has 3,004, ranking 139th all-time, while Justin Verlander leads active pitchers at 3,571 1/3.
For Cavalli and Ashcraft, the immediate task is not chasing Scherzer’s total. It is finding a sustainable route through the innings now in front of them.
