Aaron Civale to resume throwing soon, expected back in August; Oscar Gonzalez progressing

The Guardians will be without one of their starting pitchers until some point in August, and the upcoming schedule makes replacing him a bit more complicated than normal.

The Guardians, a team now on pace to play 11 doubleheaders this season due to the lockout, a COVID issue and a series of rainouts, were likely the team most looking forward to the four-day All-Star break, which also meant a breather for a pitching staff having to handle a high number of innings in a compressed amount of time.

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And another doubleheader, on Saturday in Chicago, throws another curveball into their upcoming pitching plans.

Starting pitcher Aaron Civale was evaluated by hand/wrist specialists Dr. Thomas Graham and Dr. Jason Genin. Further imaging confirmed that Civale, now on the injured list, is dealing with a sprain and inflammation in his right wrist.

According to an update provided by the team, Civale is expected to resume throwing this week and should return to the major league club sometime in August.

"They didn't find anything they didn't expect to find, which is good," manager Terry Francona told reporters in Chicago on Friday. "When they numbed it, he had really good range of motion, it felt good, then they injected it in that spot and right away. ... When he gets to a point where he's on a mound, that will dictate how quickly he can come back to pitch."

Civale's placement on the injured list leaves a hole in the Guardians rotation for at least the next few weeks.

Konnor Pilkington would be in line to receive much of that work. Pilkington has repeatedly been called up to throw a start with Cleveland here and there (namely to help during the doubleheaders), and he has been the clear No. 6 starter on the Guardians 40-man roster. In 11 games pitched (eight starts), Pilkington has posted a respectable 4.24 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 40⅓ innings.

"In the kid's defense, we know he's not the finished product. I do think this experience is really good for him and he handles it really well," Francona said after Pilkington's last start in Cleveland. "Every time he pitches he listens to [pitching coach] Carl [Willis]. They're working on some stuff as you would expect with the younger guys. We've seen bits and pieces. Just trying to put it together, that's what he's shooting for."

Pilkington will be called up on Saturday to act as the team's 27th man for the doubleheader in Chicago. Cal Quantrill pitched Friday's game, an 8-2 Guardians victory, and Triston McKenzie is pitching the other game on Saturday along with Pilkington. Then Shane Bieber will take the mound Sunday and Zach Plesac will start Monday's game in Boston.

All of that leaves the Guardians needing a starting pitcher for Tuesday's game, when Pilkington will be unavailable. Kirk McCarty could be an option depending on his own workload and schedule in the minor leagues as a pitcher who is already on the 40-man roster. McCarty was designated for assignment earlier this month, claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles and later re-claimed by the Guardians, who then assigned him to Triple-A Columbus.

Pilkington could be in line to receive most of the innings vacated by Civale until the latter can return, but the Guardians will need to align his pitching schedule to match what they need, and that won't be a possibility for Tuesday's game in Boston.

Tuesday's starter could also be dependent on how the Guardians get through this weekend series, as Francona noted Friday. They could possibly try to get through a game using multiple innings from Eli Morgan, Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan and others as a pseudo bullpen game.

Regardless, the four days off for the Guardians bullpen was needed after having to cover so many extra innings and doubleheaders. As with every year, MLB managers hope players were able to recharge a bit over the break, just not to the point that it lingers once games resume.

"Always have anxiety," Francona said, referring to players going away for the break. "You want guys to get away. You don't want them to be rusty or sloppy. I'm guessing every manager is gonna say the same thing. But you want them to get away. Hopefully they recharge."

"I saw teams had doubleheaders [Thursday]. It's not ideal. It's what happens when you have a lockout, and in our case COVID. So hope they recharged."

While the Guardians figure out Tuesday's pitching plans, that day is also a milestone in Oscar Gonzalez's recovery from a right intercostal strain that has had him on the injured list since July 2.

Gonzalez went out to the club's facility in Goodyear, Ariz., to get more consistent work. Francona told reporters in Chicago that he could appear in a minor league game Tuesday.

"He's doing really good," Francona said. "They're gonna try to get him a sim game on Sunday, and then fly him out either that night or the next day and play Tuesday."

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.