Aaron Civale

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Aaron James Civale

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Biographical Information[edit]

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.

Further Reading[edit]

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

Related Sites[edit]