The Washington Nationals manager, Blake Butera, became the youngest manager in MLB since 1972 when the franchise hired him in 2025. He was 33 years old at the time. But on Thursday, the Nationals Park saw an even younger coach take the responsibilities on his tiny shoulders for a day.
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Six-year-old Lincoln Knight walked into Nationals Park on Thursday with his own lineup card and stopwatch. He even attended the presser with manager Blake Butera. And while still adjusting to his new role, Lincoln accidentally gave away the Nationals’ plan for Pete Crow-Armstrong during the game. However, with his favorite, Cade Cavalli, taking the mound, Lincoln had little to worry about.
“Cool moment at Nats Park, where the wish of 6-year-old Lincoln Knight (who is here with Make-A-Wish) was to be a Nationals coach for the day,” reported Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. “Has chatted with players, coaches, and media today. During Butera’s presser, he gave away their plan for PCA: “Pitch him slow and away.”
The Make-A-Wish Foundation fulfills the special dreams of children diagnosed with life-threatening, critical illnesses. They work with kids between two and a half and 18 years old who are diagnosed with a progressive, degenerative, or malignant condition. The foundation makes these children’s dreams come true to give them hope and bring joy during such tough times.
On Thursday, the foundation fulfilled Lincoln Knight’s one big dream— to become the Nationals coach for a day. At 3 years old, Lincoln was diagnosed with a rare congenital heart condition. Ever since, he has been living with the difficulties of managing pulmonary hypertension. The 6-year-old undergoes regular treatment, while his family keeps a close watch on him. In a life full of challenges, Lincoln’s love for baseball shines through. The sport motivates him to fight against his condition, especially on the difficult days.
Following Thursday’s game, Lincoln will carry home some of the best memories of his life.
Major League Baseball regularly partners with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and hosts children battling critical illnesses. This July, the Los Angeles Angels hosted 11-year-old Jensen Vaught in Anaheim to make his dream of meeting Mike Trout come true. Vaught was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the anaplastic large cell lymphoma, in 2025. He completed his chemotherapy in November last year. Vaught’s parents have revealed that he also plays baseball and loves the sport immensely. After reading a book on Mike Trout, the Angels’ star became his favorite. Jensen got a chance to interact with Trout and several other players. He even led the team with Kurt Suzuki during their stretch runs.
Such feel-good moments in baseball are bound to melt the toughest hearts. On Thursday, Knight’s presence deeply affected Cade Cavalli. The 28-year-old Nationals star broke from his pre-game routine for the 6-year-old. Little Lincoln had his locker beside Cavalli for the day. The sweat-drenched pitcher paused his routine to sign a few arm sleeves and put them in Lincoln’s locker as a surprise for later.
With Lincoln’s advice of throwing breaking pitches ‘slow and away’ to PCA, Cavalli burned hot on Thursday.
Cade Cavalli near-perfect as Nationals rout Cubs
On Tuesday, Jake Irvin was about to throw his notes into the trash when Cavalli approached him with a special request. Irvin would give him those notes every time he threw a no-hitter against the Cubs. On Thursday, Cavalli almost won the challenge.
Taking the mound against the Cubs, Cavalli kept his no-hitter bid alive through 6.2 innings. Then Michael Busch singled to record the only hit for the Cubs during their 7-0 blowout loss.
Following the game, Cavalli walked away with a win after throwing 8 innings and punching out 10. He allowed only 1 hit and 2 walks to the Cubs’ hitters. Clayton Beeter closed out the game for the Nationals without allowing a run or a hit in the ninth.
After the game, Cavalli spoke about drawing inspiration from Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer. He revealed that he wants to achieve similar success in future.
“I got to watch (Stephen) Strasburg, (Max) Scherzer do it in the World Series,” Cavalli told The Athletic. “I know that all of us are looking forward to doing that one day. And we’ve got a lot of ball left. We never know. We can get hot. We’re ready to keep competing.”
The Nationals (60-63) are 5 games behind a Wild Card spot. With 39 games to go in the regular season, Cavalli and his teammates are not giving up.