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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians / Guardians,

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. Civale played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the third round of the 2016 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Indians.

Amateur career

A native of

East Windsor, Connecticut East Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 United States census ...

, Civale attended Loomis Chaffee School in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a New England town, 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, Connecticut, Hartford. The town is part of ...

. He played

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

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

after going 9–3 with a 1.73 ERA for the Huskies. While playing for the Huskies, he pitched an

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

in Florida against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(MLB) at JetBlue Park. Before this start, Civale was a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

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 1,000 forme ...

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

Professional career

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

selected Civale in the third round of the 2016 MLB draft. He signed and spent 2016 with the

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were ...

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 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, merch ...

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

and winning the game 2–0 after Brad Hand saved his 22nd game. He became the 10th Major League pitcher (and first for the Indians) since at least 1908 to pitch 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.

Tampa Bay Rays

On July 31, 2023, the Guardians traded Civale to the

for infield prospect Kyle Manzardo. In 10 starts down the stretch, he compiled a 2–3 record and 5.36 ERA with 58 strikeouts across innings pitched. Civale was signed to a one-year deal worth $4.9 million for 2024. He made 17 starts for Tampa Bay, posting a 2–6 record and 5.07 ERA with 84 strikeouts across 87 innings.

Milwaukee Brewers

On July 3, 2024, the Rays traded Civale to the

in exchange for Gregory Barrios. He had a 6-3 record and a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts for Milwaukee. On June 11, 2025, with the impending promotion of Jacob Misiorowski, the Brewers moved Civale from the starting rotation to the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

. Civale, who had never pitched out of the bullpen in his major league career, subsequently requested a trade to a team that would play him as a starting pitcher. In 5 starts for Milwaukee in 2025, he had logged a 1-2 record and 4.91 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 22 innings of work, a low total that was impacted by a left hamstring strain injury in his first start of the year.

Chicago White Sox

On June 13, 2025, the Brewers traded Civale and cash considerations to the

in exchange for Andrew Vaughn. The cash was included to cover the difference between Civale and Vaughn's salaries.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Civale, Aaron Living people 1995 births People from East Windsor, Connecticut Baseball players from Hartford County, Connecticut Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Indians players Cleveland Guardians players Tampa Bay Rays players Milwaukee Brewers players Chicago White Sox 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 Nashville Sounds players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players