TORONTO -- The value of a veteran can show up in many ways.
The White Sox didn’t get seven flawless innings from Aaron Civale in Saturday afternoon’s 7-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. But they got seven much-needed innings.
It’s been a tricky stretch for the South Siders’ pitching staff, which lost two more key contributors in starter Davis Martin and reliever Cam Booser on Friday. After a doubleheader and a bullpen day, Chicago was counting on its new experienced starter for stability. That’s what Civale delivered this time.
“It’s something that I take pride in doing every time out there, trying to pitch as deep into the game as possible,” Civale said. “It gives the guys out in the bullpen a chance to catch their breath. It's good energy to try and go out there and jog out to the mound and off as many times as you can. So it's always a goal of mine.”
With the way the first couple of innings shaped up, there was reason to doubt Civale would go deep into this one. The right-hander allowed a leadoff home run and struggled to put away a Blue Jays lineup that looked poised to come out swinging. A string of singles and a throwing error by Austin Slater added three more runs to Civale’s tally in the second.
Still, he knew what the job was. Civale was set on coming through.
“That's what you get with these types of guys that have been around,” manager Will Venable said. “They understand what they need to do to reset and get back on track. And [Civale] just did a great job of really settling down, getting back to his game plan. ...
“Unbelievable to be able to cover seven innings on a day where, maybe at the beginning, he didn't have his best stuff.”
That second inning ended with a strikeout, as Civale got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to swing at an outside cutter. Perhaps the first-pitch-swinging strategy still helped Civale in a way. Even after all the damage, he only needed 28 pitches to complete the first two frames. Then, he started hitting his spots.
From that inning-ending strikeout, Civale retired eight straight batters, working on the edges to keep the Blue Jays off the bases until the bottom of the fifth. He kept the score where it was until the seventh, when Guerrero towered a two-out solo homer to respond to the run scored by Miguel Vargas on Andrew Benintendi’s fielder’s choice one inning prior.
Civale immediately refocused, getting Alejandro Kirk to ground out before giving way to Jake Palisch in his Major League debut.
There’s still so much uncertainty around Civale’s future. The 30-year-old -- acquired from the Brewers in a trade for Andrew Vaughn on June 13 -- had his share of ups and downs in Milwaukee this season, and he was dealt following a contentious move to the bullpen.
Civale is firmly in the rotation for the White Sox, who are also without Jonathan Cannon as he works his way back from a lower back strain. But he’s set for free agency after the 2025 season, and if Chicago can get some of its young arms back ahead of the Trade Deadline, the White Sox may find themselves fielding calls from contending teams in need of starting depth.
One thing at a time, though. Civale’s main priority is continuing the acclimation process with his new teammates and the coaching staff.
“I’m just trying to take it all in,” Civale said. “I think the communication that we've had together has been great, but I know we're trying to learn each other in person. We’re familiar with each other from typically across the field, but it's been good. It's been a quick adjustment settling in. It's not the first time I've had to learn some new faces on the fly, but it's been a good adjustment.”
There are benefits to this adjustment period, too. Those young arms may have some things to learn from the new veteran in their staff.
“He had a tough start, but to be able to settle in like he did, it shows you why he's been around so long. It shows you why he's a veteran,” Palisch said. “That's what this game is about, is enduring when you get to those hard times. Seeing guys go out there and do it, like [Tyler] Alexander did yesterday and Civale did today, there's a lot of a lot of people to be able to look up to and take notes from. A lot of good role models around.”