Civale slotted to return to rotation Tuesday
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BOSTON -- Aaron Civale’s next start will come in the big leagues, with the right-hander scheduled to start Tuesday vs. Minnesota, the club announced.
“I think he came out of his last start feeling very good -- 71 pitches, I believe,” acting manager DeMarlo Hale said on Friday. “So his next start probably will be at the Major League level. We just need to kind of talk about where he’s going to slot in next week.”
Civale made his third rehab start on Wednesday, throwing 71 pitches while giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits over five innings with Double-A Akron. Hale said the right-hander could jump another 15-18 pitches from his 71, which would put Civale in a position to make a Major League start. Perhaps most encouraging from Civale’s outing was that he was hitting 93 mph.
With Civale’s last rehab outing coming on Wednesday, slotting in on Tuesday gives the right-hander an extra day of rest as he makes his return to the Majors.
Civale was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 24 with a sprained right middle finger. Just over a month later on July 26 he was transferred to the 60-day IL. The right-hander has made three rehab starts, two with Akron and one with Class A Advanced Lake County.
Prior to his injury, Civale went 10-2 with a 3.32 ERA over 97 2/3 innings this season. Despite having not been with the Major League team since the end of June, Civale still leads the club (along with Shane Bieber) with 11 starts of at least six innings.
With Civale and Bieber (right shoulder strain) sidelined since June, Cleveland has worked a four-man rotation this summer, with Allen, J.C. Mejia, Eli Morgan, Cal Quantrill, Triston McKenzie and Sam Hentges among the bullpen arms helping to fill the rotation holes. Bieber showed hopeful signs in his last bullpen session on Aug. 31, continuing to build his pitch count and work more of his pitches into the mix. The 26-year-old righty threw a 20-pitch simulated game on Saturday at Akron with “no issues” according to the club.