Aaron James Civale ( ; born June 12, 1995) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

, and was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the third round of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Amateur career

A native of

East Windsor, Connecticut East Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 census. The town has five villages: Broad Brook, Melrose, Scantic, Warehouse Point and Windsorville. History In 1633, Settlers laid cl ...

, Civale attended Loomis Chaffee School in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census. Po ...

. He played

. He was honored as Co-Pitcher of the Year in the

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

after going 9–3 with a 1.73 ERA for the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

. While playing for the Huskies, Civale pitched an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

in Florida against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park. Before this start, he was a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

for the Huskies for two years. In 2015, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, where he was a league all-star, and received the Outstanding New England Prospect award. He was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in the third round of the

Professional career

Civale signed and spent 2016 with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers where he was 0–2 with a 1.67 ERA and 0.82 WHIP in 13 starts. In 2017, he played for both the

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following t ...

and Lynchburg Hillcats, posting a combined 13–6 record with a 3.28 ERA in 27 total starts between the two teams, and in 2018, he pitched with the Akron RubberDucks where he went 5–7 with a 3.89 ERA in 21 starts. He returned to Akron to begin 2019. Civale was promoted to the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

on June 6. He made seven starts between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus going 5–0 with a 2.85 ERA before being called up. On June 21, 2019, his contract was selected and Civale was called up to the major leagues for the first time. In his first game, he went 6 innings with 6 strikeouts against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and winning the game 2–0 after

Brad Hand Bradley Richard Hand (born March 20, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, Toronto B ...

saved his 22nd game. He became the 10th Major League pitcher (and first for the Indians) since at least 1908 to toss at least innings and allow 2 runs or fewer in each of his first six career appearances as a starter. In 2020 he was 4–6 with a 4.74 ERA. He led the AL in hits allowed (82) and highest batting average against (.282). On June 23, 2021, Civale was placed on the injured list with a middle finger sprain. At the time of his placement, Civale led the MLB in wins with 10. On July 26, Civale was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Civale returned in September and on October 3, he was the winning pitcher in Cleveland's final game under their Indians nickname, pitching six scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers. He finished the 2021 season with a 12–5 record and a 3.84 ERA in 21 starts. On January 13, 2023, Civale agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million contract with the Guardians, avoiding salary arbitration.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Civale, Aaron Living people 1995 births People from East Windsor, Connecticut Baseball players from Connecticut Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players Cleveland Guardians players Northeastern Huskies baseball players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Lake County Captains players Loomis Chaffee School alumni Lynchburg Hillcats players Akron RubberDucks players Columbus Clippers players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players