- The Washington Times - Thursday, July 7, 2022

Washington Nationals prospects Cade Cavalli and Darren Baker have been selected by Major League Baseball to participate in the Futures Game later this month. 

The All-Star Futures Game, scheduled for July 16 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, features some of the top minor league prospects in baseball. 

Cavalli, a 23-year-old starting pitcher, is the Nationals’ No. 1 prospect, and this month’s Futures Game will be his second. 

With Triple-A Rochester this season, Cavalli has a 4.54 earned-run average and 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings. However, the right-hander has caught fire in his last seven starts, going 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA across 39 innings with 41 strikeouts. Opposing hitters have compiled an anemic .182 batting average against Cavalli in that time. 

On Wednesday, Cavalli tossed seven shutout innings and allowed only two hits after retiring the first 17 batters of the game. The Nationals’ first-round pick in the 2020 draft, Cavalli was with the big club in spring training but has spent all of this season in Triple-A. 

Baker, meanwhile, will be appearing in his first Futures Game. The 23-year-old second baseman is hitting .264 with 13 doubles and 10 stolen bases in 55 games with High-A Wilmington this season. Baker, the son of former Nationals manager Dusty Baker, has a career .283 batting average in the minors after being drafted by the Nationals in the 10th round of the 2021 draft out of the University of California-Berkeley. 

Dusty Baker, now the skipper for the Astros, will also be appearing at Dodger Stadium for the All-Star festivities as the manager for the American League team in the All-Star Game on July 19. 

• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.

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