Guardians’ Civale, slumping, injured
Aaron Civale is trying to escape a significant slump, the worst stretch of his career. But those efforts are now delayed, as Civale is on the injured list with left glute tightness.
Civale, through seven starts, has posted a 7.84 ERA. Starting April 24 and running through May 13, he had a fourgame stretch in which he allowed six earned runs three times. And five of Civale's six pitches have been hit hard this season.
His curveball (.219 average against) has been the lone outlier and thus represented a way out of his rut. The goal has been to use it to set up his other offerings similar to how most pitchers use their fastballs.
"That's just going to be a cat and mouse, a chess game, throughout the rest of the year depending on how much that's used," Civale told reporters in Minnesota.
But Civale knows that eventually, his cutter or one of the other pitches in his arsenal will have to complement the curveball. Pitching coach Carl Willis noted they've been working on the shape of his cutter, hoping to add more depth to it rather than only lateral break.
"I think that has started to improve, and now it's just a matter of the command and getting it to the spot he wants," Willis said. "But the pitch shape itself is getting back to normal, to what we saw last year."
So for Civale, the next step – once he's healthy – is locating his pitches.
"I think it comes down to execution," Willis said. "His ability to get the ball inside, particularly to right-hand hitters to keep them off the stuff that's very, very good and works away from them [is needed] just to keep both halves of the plate open."
Civale appeared to have made some progress on this front, as he posted his best outing of the year on May 20 against the Detroit Tigers, allowing one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings. That progress, however, will now be put on hold.
Johnson traded to Mets
Outfielder Daniel Johnson repeatedly knocked on the door to the majors but was never able to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to him, even as the club desperately searched for stability in the outfield. And on Wednesday, his time with Cleveland came to an end, as he was dealt to the New York Mets for cash considerations.
In 35 games at the major league level, Johnson hit .202 with four home runs, five RBIS and 32 strikeouts. This season in Triple-a Columbus, he hit .217 with a .594 OPS.