Aaron Civale

Aaron James Civale

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 215 lb.
• School Northeastern University
• High School Loomis Chaffee High School
• Debut June 22, 2019

• Born June 12, 1995 in East Windsor, CT USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Aaron Civale was a 3rd round pick by the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 amateur draft out of Northeastern University. He had a great major league debut for the Indians against the Detroit Tigers on June 22, 2019. He struck out the side in the 1st inning, and went on to pitch 6 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 infield hits, to receive credit for a 2-0 win. Civale made 10 starts, encompassing 57 2/3 innings, with a great 2.34 ERA. Evidently, these solid numbers were not solid enough to keep a roster spot during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indians sending him to Triple A the day before a universal roster freeze. That was just a temporary move however, as when the season started in late July, he was in the starting rotation and ended up with 12 starts - just one off the American League lead - going 4=6, 4.74. He led the AL in hits allowed with 82 in 74 innings. He did not pitch in the postseason.

He had his best season in 2021 when he made 21 starts, pitched 124 1/3 innings, and finished at 12-5, 3.84. The Indians became the Cleveland Guardians in 2022, but he fell back to 5-6, 4.92 in 20 starts. He also struck out 98 batters in 97 innings, his first time striking out over a batter per inning. He made his postseason debut that year when he started Game 5 of the Division Series against the New York Yankees on October 18th. Things did not go well at all, however, as he allowed 3 runs in a third of an inning, two of them coming on a typically massive homer by Giancarlo Stanton. The Guardians never recovered from the early deficit, losing the game, 5-1.

In 2023, Aaron started the season with Cleveland and pitched very well, going 5-2, 2.34 in his first 13 starts. At the trading deadline on July 31st, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in return for Kyle Manzardo, but he did not pitch well the rest of the way, going 2-3, 5.36 in 10 starts. His overall record was thus 7-5, 3.46 and he did top the 100-strikeout mark for the first time with 116, but his poor finish meant that he did not appear in the postseason. In 2024, he started the year for the Rays and went 2-6, 5.07 before being traded again on July 3rd. This time he was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers, who had a good team but lacked healthy starting pitchers, in return for minor league IF Gregory Barrios. He turned things around for Milwaukee, going 6-3, 3.53 in 14 starts to finish with an overall mark of 8-9 4.36 in 31 games - all starts. He set personal marks with 161 innings and 149 strikeouts. He returned to the postseason by in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the New York Mets on October 1st. While he had been used as a starting pitcher all year, he was used in long relief, pitching hitless ball for the final three innings of an 8-4 loss, thus sparing the team's bullpen. His contribution almost helped get the Brewers into the next round as they won Game 2 and had a lead heading into the 9th inning of Game 3, but closer Devin Williams imploded at the worst possible moment, and it was the Mets who moved on. Aaron would likely have gotten the ball to start either Game 1 or Game 2 of the Division Series had the Brewers held on to win Game 3 of the Wild Card Series.

In 2025, he was counted on to be a pillar of the Brewers' starting rotation and made his first appearance starting against the New York Yankees on March 30th. That entire three-game season-opening series at New Yankee Stadium was a disaster for Milwaukee's pitchers, as the Yankees set a number of home run records, and Aaron was not spared the pain, giving up 5 runs in 3 innings in his start, including long balls by Aaron Judge, Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm, to be saddled with a 12-3 loss. Things went from bad to worse as he was placed on the injured list with a strained hamstring the next day.

Further Reading

• Adam McCalvy: "Brewers acquire Civale from Rays for IF prospect Barrios", mlb.com, July 3, 2024. [1]

Related Sites

• Aaron Civale on mlb.com
• BR Minors page