Aaron Civale 2024 Player Outlook: Brighter Days Ahead In Tampa Bay After Volatile 2023
2 months agoTampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Aaron Civale's 2023 looked much different during his time in Cleveland than the time spent in Tampa Bay. While with Cleveland, the righty posted a sparkling 2.34 ERA (3.53 FIP, 4.59 xFIP), 1.04 WHIP, and 5.6% HR/FB% over 13 games (77 IP). With Tampa, however, the ERA ballooned to 5.36 (3.63 FIP, 3.26 xFIP), the WHIP went up to 1.37, and the HR/FB% rocketed up to 15.6% over 10 games (45 1/3 IP). Interestingly, while pitching better in Cleveland the former third-round pick maintained a low 11.8% K-BB% and a low BABIP of .242 yet stranded 82.7% of runners, versus while in Tampa when his K-BB% was a high 23.7% with a high .370 BABIP and stranding a lowly 68.8% of runners. Not surprisingly, ATC projections call for a 2024 that is somewhere in between the two, with a 4.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 16.3% K-BB%, and a 9-8 record. He's not a flashy pick for certain, but he should contribute decent numbers across the board and won't be a drain in any particular category, plus there's a small amount of upside. RotoBaller accordingly ranks him at 200, ahead of his NFBC ADP of 211.