Tampa Bay Rays strengthen their rotation with Aaron Civale
The Tampa Bay Rays have concluded a trade with the Cleveland Guardians that sees Aaron Civale added to one of the strongest rotations in MLB.
The race at the top of the AL East is one of the tightest in baseball. Any slip up can see you tumble a very long way indeed. In the toughest division in MLB, the Orioles are currently sitting in first place, with the Tampa Bay Rays, long the team to beat, slipping one and a half games behind them.
But the Rays have just concluded a deal that sees their injury-riddled rotation shored up, sending their top first base prospect Kyle Manzardo to Cleveland in exchange for right handed starter Aaron Civale.
Civale has an outstanding 2.34 ERA this season with 58 strikeouts on 77.0 innings pitched for a 1.04 WHIP. After losing Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen for the season, the biggest need for the Rays has been in that beleaguered rotation. With Jordan Montgomery dealt to the Rangers and Marcus Stroman seemingly no longer available, the Rays needed to look further afield.
An excellent breaking ball dealer, Civale will add significant depth to the Rays rotation and take some pressure off of their overworked bullpen. Civale will likely slot in with Shane McClanahan, Tyler Glasnow, Zach Eflin, and Taj Bradley to give the Rays a true five man rotation.
The only worry for the Rays is that Civale has been dogged by injury for most of his professional career, and they will need to squeeze at least 25 innings work from him if they are to push into the post season.
The Tampa Bay Rays are a bona fide World Series contender, and with this addition to their rotation, things are looking up on the Gulf coast.