The injury to Aaron Civale could give Konnor Pilkington a chance to prove his worth

Aaron Civale is hurt but with that comes opportunities for the Cleveland Guardians pitchers.

Aaron Civale has had an up and down season, and that’s putting it mildly at best. The starter currently has a 7.84 ERA in seven starts so far this year. He’s given up six runs in a game three times already, and sadly those are 3 of his last five outings. Prior to his start on May 20, Civale had given up 22 runs in four starts. It looked all downhill from there for the fourth-year starter.

Yet, he then bounced back against the Tigers in easily his best outing of the season. He had a season-high innings pitched, third-most pitches thrown, the least amount of runs given up in a game (one), and basically had better control in this game than at any time in the past six starts. He looked like he did in 2021. He was finally back on track and looked like he was going to turn it around.

Then he got hurt, because of course he did. This is the Guardians 2022 season in a nutshell.

Yet, where there are injuries, there are opportunities.

The Cleveland Guardians will see what Konnor Pilkington has to offer

The 24-year-old will be called up once again to play for the big league club and we’re in for a show. Not necessarily a good show, but it’ll be worth watching one way or another. See, Pilkington is having a tail of two seasons. When he was with the Guardians before being sent down to Triple-A Columbus, he had a 2.08 ERA in four games. Three of which were in relief, while one was a start. He only gave up two runs, both came in his lone start.

After going back down, however, Pilkington started four games and less than nine whole innings in total action. He’s given up 11 runs and has an ERA of 6.91. Something clearly isn’t working in Columbus for him.

There’s no guarantee Pilkington can shake off whatever Columbus did to him mentally, but there’s no guarantee he can’t either. If Pilkington is frustrated about his demotion and mentally wasn’t prepared to go back down, he may bounce back with the big league club.

If he does, that may open up possibilities for him down the road.

Civale will get his spot back in the rotation but if he struggles upon his return, the Guardians may not wait to bring back Pilkington, assuming Pilkington did well in relief. Not only that, but Zach Plesac is falling apart as well, and if he continues to struggle, Pilkington may be needed to replace him eventually as well.

So no, it’s not great that Civale is hurt, but now we get to see if this young prospect can make an impact for the team in a time of need.