The Milwaukee Brewers are first in the NL Central division with a 51-35 record.
They have a six-game cushion over the second-placed St. Louis Cardinals.
Their rotation, however, needs some work and a lot of depth.
Injuries to Robert Gasser, DL Hall, Brandon Woodruff, Joe Ross and Wade Miley have forced them to go with the likes of Dallas Keuchel, Tobias Myers and Colin Rea behind ace Freddy Peralta.
They have been able to get by and most of those guys have actually performed adequately.
Depth, however, is very important and the Brewers were very thin.
That’s why they moved swiftly on Wednesday to complete a trade for former Tampa Bay Rays righty Aaron Civale.
“RHP Aaron Civale has been acquired from Tampa Bay in exchange for INF Gregory Barrios,” the team announced via Twitter.
RHP Aaron Civale has been acquired from Tampa Bay in exchange for INF Gregory Barrios. pic.twitter.com/TQ5xjtW0gG
Civale has had a rough year in Tampa to this point, posting a 5.07 ERA in 87 innings.
However, his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is a much better 4.69, and according to quality and quantity of contact allowed, his expected ERA (xERA) is a decent 4.15.
In other words, Civale has been pitching better than his numbers indicate and has rebound potential with the Brewers.
At this point, Milwaukee will gladly take league-average pitching and some length from him.
Given the fact Civale has a 4.10 career ERA and posted a 3.46 mark last year, the potential is there for him to be an asset for Milwaukee.
Barrios is a 20-year-old minor leaguer who plays shortstop and is having a nice season in High-A, with a .325/.367/.429 line and 18 stolen bases in 61 games.
He will make an already interesting Rays’ farm even better.