Aaron Civale drama now creating crisis for Cubs’ division foe

All seemed good in Wrigley North earlier this week when the Milwaukee Brewers called up top pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski.

The young right-hander is set to make his MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 12, marking an important moment in the NL Central race, both for this year and future seasons.

However, with the rise of a top prospect comes the fall of an established veteran, and it appears Aaron Civale has been dealt the short end of the stick, getting stashed in the bullpen for the first time in his career.

According to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, Civale has requested a trade out of Milwaukee. And while the Brewers have the personnel to withstand such a loss, Cubs fans would be the first to remind you how important quality pitching depth is.

Aaron Civale requests trade, testing Brewers pitching depth

As Cubs fans know by now, the Brewers are a pitching factory.

Rotation stalwart Freddy Peralta is pitching like an ace again this year, with a 2.69 ERA in 77.0 innings. Old friend Jose Quintana is also authoring a better season than he ever did as a Cub, logging a 2.66 ERA as Milwaukee's de facto No. 2 starter.

Beyond them, Quinn Priester (3.65 ERA) and Chad Patrick (3.25) have established themselves as quality mid-rotation arms, and both Brandon Woodruff and Nestor Cortes are expected to return from injury at some point this season. With Misiorowski making his debut, Civale just ended up being the odd man out of the rotation.

In 14 starts with the 2024 Brewers, Civale recorded a 3.53 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with 65 strikeouts and 25 walks. This year, though, the wheels fell off, and the 30-year-old has a 4.91 ERA in 22.0 innings. He's been a lot better since returning from a hamstring injury in mid-May (3.32 ERA), but it's clear the Brewers want to ride the youth movement in their rotation.

What the team gets for an underperforming starter in his contract year remains to be seen, but the most important piece of this puzzle is that, assuming Civale's trade demand is honored by the team, the Brewers will be down a reliable starting pitcher.

Sure, they don't need him right now, but if Misiorwoski struggles — or if one of their established starters gets hurt — where will they turn? Woodruff and Cortes are still a ways off, and it's anyone's guess how they'll perform after returning from such long layoffs.

They do have Tobias Meyers and Logan Henderson, a pair of exciting young arms who have already made their MLB debuts, waiting in the minors. Plus, DL Hall seems to be figuring things out as an opener this year.

But you can never have enough established MLB starters. The 36-33 Brewers are already functioning with a low-impact offense; a blow to the depth of their rotation could spell trouble for their 2025 aspirations. And yet, the team can't keep a disgruntled player who doesn't want to be on the team.

It's far from an ideal situation, but the Brewers will need to perform some addition by subtraction as trade season heats up.