Cleveland Indians: 5 Tribe stocks that are booming in Spring Training

3. Aaron Civale

Entering his year, Aaron Civale was already a solid major-league starter, but if he can take the next step like Shane Bieber, did, then lookout.

Civale wasn’t going to pass for just being a viable arm, though. He spent his entire offseason re-working his windup, adjusting his arm angle, while teaching himself how to re-throw all of his pitches.

He also altered his arsenal, deciding to throw a split-change instead of his standard change. Additionally, his windup will look like he’s pitching out of the stretch.

It was quite the tall order for one winter, but Civale did it, working tirelessly with assistant pitching coach Ruben Niebla virtually.

In an intrasquad matchup before game started, Civale threw 2 2/3 innings, while allowing no runs, hits or walks. He notched two strikeouts. In his first spring start, he went 3.0 innings and recorded three strikeouts. Nobody got on base.