Milwaukee has acquired veteran right-hander Aaron Civale from the Tampa Bay Rays in the NL Central-leading Brewers’ latest attempt to boost a starting rotation that’s been decimated by injuries.
The Brewers sent minor league infielder Gregory Barrios to Tampa Bay in the trade that was announced Wednesday. They designated right-hander Taylor Clarke for assignment to make room for Civale on the 40-man roster.
Civale, 29, has gone 2-6 with a 5.07 ERA in 17 starts this season. He has struck out 84 and walked 27 in 87 innings. Civale has a 3.82 ERA over his last seven outings.
He fared better last year, going 7-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 23 combined starts for Cleveland and Tampa Bay.
Civale owns a 33-32 record with a 4.10 ERA in 103 career starts. He will be arbitration eligible after the season and is under club control through 2025.
Barrios, 20, was batting .325 with a .367 on-base percentage, one homer, 34 RBIs and 18 steals in 61 games for the Brewers’ Single-A Wisconsin affiliate. The Rays said he will report to their Single-A Bowling Green affiliate.
In other moves Wednesday, the Brewers placed third baseman Joey Ortiz on the 10-day injured list, put right-handed reliever Enoli Paredes on the 15-day injured list and recalled infielder Vinny Capra and right-hander Janson Junk from Triple-A Nashville.
Ortiz has neck inflammation and Paredes has right forearm tendinitis. Ortiz’s assignment to the injured list is retroactive to Tuesday.
The addition of Civale comes eight days after the Brewers acquired left-hander Dallas Keuchel from the Seattle Mariners. Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner, has gone 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts with the Brewers.
Milwaukee owns a six-game lead in the NL Central despite getting just 406 total innings from its starting pitchers, the second-lowest total of any major league team. The San Francisco Giants have gotten 402 innings from their starting pitchers.
Fifteen different pitchers have started games for the Brewers this season, which represents the highest number for any MLB team.
Milwaukee traded 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles before the season and knew going into the year that two-time All-Star Brandon Woodruff wouldn’t pitch at all in 2024 while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.
Wade Miley and Robert Gasser have undergone Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season. Other Brewers pitchers on the injured list include starters Joe Ross (lower back) and DL Hall (left knee), two-time All-Star closer Devin Williams (back) and relievers Jared Koenig (left forearm) and JB Bukauskas (right lat).
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