The Brewers are placing right-hander Aaron Civale on the 15-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain, manager Pat Murphy announced this morning (via Andrew Wagner of Freeman Sports and 105.7 The Fan). There’s no immediate timetable for his absence. Right-hander Grant Anderson is up from Triple-A Nashville in his place.
It’s yet another major blow to a pitching staff that Murphy, just four games into the season, described as “decimated” in his media availability today. Civale joins Tobias Myers (oblique strain), DL Hall (lat strain), Aaron Ashby (oblique strain), Robert Gasser (Tommy John surgery last June) and Brandon Woodruff (2023 shoulder surgery) on the injured list at a time when veteran Jose Quintana is still building up in Nashville. Quintana got a late start, signing midway through spring training, and agreed to be optioned to Triple-A to begin his season.
At present, the Brewers have just two healthy starters: Freddy Peralta and Nestor Cortes. They’re turning to swingman Elvin Rodriguez to start today’s game. Milwaukee signed the former Angels/Tigers prospect to a split big league deal this winter after Rodriguez spent the past season-plus pitching in Japan. Rodriguez, Tyler Alexander, Chad Patrick and Rule 5 pick Connor Thomas are all multi-inning options who’ll help cover for a depleted starting staff in Milwaukee.
Losing Civale would sting even with an otherwise full contingent of starters. The 29-year-old righty was traded from Tampa Bay to Milwaukee early last July and, after some early struggles with the Rays, righted the ship to post a 3.53 ERA, 20.9% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 74 innings for the Brewers over the final three months of the year. Civale is the rare pitcher who couldn’t seem to get on track with the Rays, but he has a solid track record in Cleveland and pitched well in Milwaukee last year. He entered the season with a 4.03 ERA in 636 1/3 career innings at the MLB level, including sub-4.00 ERA marks in both 2021 and 2023.
Civale had a shaky spring, however, and his 2025 debut was anything but up to his prior standard. He pitched just three innings and was gouged for five runs against the Yankees. His 91.4 mph average sinker velocity was down more than a mile per hour over his 2024 average, and his lesser-used four-seamer was also down about a half mile per hour. Much of the focus from that weekend series is on the Yankees’ new “torpedo” or “bowling pin” bats, but Civale appears to have been operating at less than 100% and will now be shelved for at least the next two weeks.