Brewers battered again as Aaron Civale becomes their latest pitcher to go on the injured list
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Civale throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Sunday, March 30, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The bruised and battered Milwaukee Brewers are taking plenty of lumps on and off the field during the first week of the season.
Following an 11-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Monday, the two-time defending NL Central champions have been outscored 47-15 and are off to their first 0-4 start since 2015. The Brewers never lost four straight games at any point last year.
Milwaukee’s 47 runs allowed ties the 1954 Cardinals for the most given up through a team’s first four games since 1900. The club’s minus-32 run differential through the first four completed games is the most since 1900, surpassing the 1978 Orioles (minus-31), according to Sportradar.
“We’re decimated on the mound,” manager Pat Murphy said. “I kind of made it clear to you guys now who’s going to be on the team and who’s injured, and building up. The guys who don’t have that much experience are guys that have to come into the game. You get a couple rough starts from two of your main guys, you get in this position.”
All those injuries are having an impact.
Milwaukee allowed 15 homers and was outscored 36-14 by the New York Yankees in a three-game series to begin the season. Then on Monday, right-hander Aaron Civale joined the long list of Brewers pitchers on the injured list.
Civale strained his left hamstring Sunday during a 12-3 loss at Yankee Stadium. The 29-year-old allowed five runs and four hits in three innings.
He went a combined 8-9 with a 4.36 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 161 innings for Milwaukee and Tampa Bay last season. He was 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA in 14 starts after the Brewers acquired him from the Rays.
Milwaukee called up right-hander Grant Anderson from Triple-A Nashville to fill Civale’s roster spot.
Civale joins left-handers Aaron Ashby (right oblique), Robert Gasser (left elbow) and DL Hall (left lat) and right-handers Nick Mears (illness), Tobias Myers (left oblique) and Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) on the IL. Left-hander Jose Quintana is working his way into pitching shape after signing a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Brewers four weeks ago.
Murphy said Mears, Quintana, Myers and Civale were likely the closest to being available.
“Those four hopefully should be joining us before May,” Murphy said Monday.
Myers was one of the Brewers’ top returning starters. Woodruff is a two-time All-Star recovering from shoulder surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2024 season. Ashby and Hall were expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation. Mears is one of the Brewers’ top returning relievers, and Gasser was in the rotation before having Tommy John surgery last summer.
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