Elite Cubs Debut From Aaron Civale Shows Team Was Right To Change His Role

Claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 31, the right-handed veteran is now eligible to be on the Cubs' postseason roster. Depending on how he performs down the stretch, he could find himself pitching meaningful innings for his new team.

But it won't be as a starter. Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported that Civale is going to pitch out of the bullpen for Chicago, a role that is new to him since all 135 of his previous major league appearances had come as a starting pitcher.

If how the 30-year-old performed in his reliever debut is any indication of how he's going to look in that new role, then the Cubs have added a huge part of their pitching staff for the remainder of the season and the playoffs.

During Chicago's Labor Day matchup against the Atlanta Braves, it looked like the Cubs were going to have a tough day at Wrigley Field. Starting pitcher Colin Rea allowed three runs in four innings pitched and reliever Taylor Rogers came on and gave up three runs in his lone inning. After five frames, Chicago was down 6-1.

And that's when they turned to Civale, seeing what he could do at that stage of the game. The right-hander was brilliant, going three up, three down in the top of the sixth inning where he fanned two batters to close out the frame. Sent out there for another inning, Civale struck out two more batters to mark four straight K's, putting together another three up, three down frame.

It wasn't until his third and final inning where he ran into trouble, hitting a batter with a pitch and allowing a single for his only hit of the outing. But he still got out of things without a run allowed, a stretch of three innings that gave the Cubs the chance to get back into the game and ultimately win.

That type of performance was important in the moment, but it's invaluable in the playoffs. Teams are always looking for long relievers who can pitch multiple innings and be effective. And based on Civale's debut coming out of the bullpen, he could fit that billing in October for Chicago.