Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Aaron Civale Requests Trade After Getting Moved to Bullpen

Milwaukee Brewers right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale has requested a trade, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported Thursday morning.

Civale was bumped from the Brewers' rotation to their bullpen Wednesday, coinciding with top prospect Jacob Misiorowski's promotion to the big leagues. Civale was 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA, 1.364 WHIP and 0.0 WAR through five starts in 2025, missing over a month with a hamstring strain.

Between his 122 career games in the majors and his 86 outings in the minors since hearing his name called in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Civale has never logged an appearance as a reliever in the pros. Per Rosenthal, Civale's agent, Jack Toffey, made the request to general manager Matt Arnold after the righty's demotion to the bullpen became official.

Freddy Peralta, Jose Quintana, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick will make up the rest of Milwaukee's rotation around Misiorowski. Nestor Cortes, Robert Gasser and Brandon Woodruff are on the injured list, as well.

The Brewers acquired Civale in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on July 3, 2024, parting ways with Venezuelan infield prospect Gregory Barrios to get the deal done. Civale proceeded to go 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA, 1.216 WHIP and 1.1 WAR in 14 starts down the stretch, helping Milwaukee snag the NL Central crown.

Civale, 30, has been a reliable big league starter ever since he broke into the majors with the Cleveland Guardians in 2019. He boasts a 40-37 record for his career, posting a 4.06 ERA, 1.206 WHIP, 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings and a 6.7 WAR across 658.1 total innings of work.

Milwaukee gave Civale a one-year, $8 million contract to avoid his final year of arbitration this past winter. He will hit free agency for the first time at the end of the 2025 campaign.