Cavalli will appeal the seven-game suspension he received Thursday, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports.
MLB issued bans for Cavalli and teammate Miles Mikolas (five games) along with Boston's Willson Contreras (seven games) and Nate Eaton (three games) for their roles in a benches-clearing incident Tuesday. Cavalli's suspension was set to begin Friday, but the 27-year-old's decision to appeal the ban will allow him to make his next turn through the rotation, which is expected to come Monday against the Astros. One or both Nationals pitchers could end up dropping their appeals at a more convenient time as the team figures out how to juggle the two looming absences from its rotation.