Cleveland Indians will put Aaron Civale on injured list with finger injury – cleveland.com

CHICAGO — Indians right-hander Aaron Civale is headed to the injured list after he left Tuesday’s start against the Cubs with a soreness in the middle finger of his right hand.

Civale’s trip to the IL will mean the Indians’ opening day rotation of Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Civale, Logan Allen and Triston McKenzie are either injured or in Class AAA Columbus. The fact that Bieber, last year’s Cy Young winner, and Civale, a Cy Young contender this year, went on the injured list in the midst of MLB cracking down on pitchers using foreign substances on the ball is a matter of conjecture for those who delve into such things.

Manager Terry Francona, when MLB recently revealed that it would start inspecting pitchers for the sticky stuff on Monday, said there could be unforeseen consequences of enforcing rules that hadn’t been rigorously enforced for years this deep into a season.

Could injured pitchers, trying to cope without grip enhancers, be that unintended consequence?

There is no evidence that Civale or Bieber were using the sticky stuff. Civale’s spin rates on his pitches Monday night were consistent with his season average. People who know Civale said he does not use it. Besides the umpires checked him twice during his 4 2/3 inning start against the Cubs.

Bieber is on the injured list after straining a muscle the rotator cuff of his right shoulder in a June 13 start against Seattle. His spin rates were down in that start, but that could have been because of his shoulder injury.

McKenzie, still wrestling with the strike zone at Columbus, could replace Civale. McKenzie, however, is scheduled to start for the Clippers tonight. Allen, off the Triple-A injured list, is a candidate. So are non-roster pitchers such as DJ John, Kirk McCarty and Justin Garza.

“Our guys have done a tremendous job of overcoming a lot of adversity so far and they’ll have to continue to do that,” said Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations.

Plesac, recovering from a broken right thumb, is scheduled to throw another bullpen on Thursday when the Indians open a four-game series against the Twins in Minneapolis. He could rejoin the rotation sometime in July.

The Indians are off Wednesday, which should give them a chance to reset what remains of the rotation. Civale is 10-2 with 3.32 ERA. As of today, he leads the big leagues with 10 wins and 97 2/3 innings pitched.

Manager Terry Francona on Tuesday afternoon told reporters Civale will be examined by Dr. Thomas Graham in Dayton on Wednesday. He said Civale told him his finger is sore and feels like he “jammed it.” Francona said the Indians will need a fifth starter on Monday when they return home to play the Tigers.

Right now J.C. Mejia, Cal Quantrill, Sam Hentges and Eli Morgan will start against the Twins at Target Field starting Thursday.