College Baseball Countdown: 66 Days to Go- Aaron Civale

Ten years ago, Northeastern had an ace pitcher on staff named Adam Ottavino. Over his three seasons on campus, he had a 3.09 ERA and opposing hitters had just a .218 batting average against him. In 253.1 innings, he struck out a staggering 290 hitters. After the 2006 season, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 30th pick of the first round.

It remains to be seen where he will end up being drafted, but the Huskies’ Aaron Civale is on a very similar track, albeit as a relief pitcher to this point in his career.

Last season, Civale appeared out of the NU bullpen 20 times. In those 20 appearances, he threw 41.2 innings, striking out 41 and walking just 9. He sported a 3.24 ERA and saved 6 games. His performance was enough to earn him All-CAA Third Team honors. In 2014, he had been a quality middle reliever for the Huskies, as he put up a 3.19 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.

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That alone would have been enough to put him in the MLB Draft conversation, but then he went out and made an even bigger name for himself over the summer. In 27 innings of work as a member of the Cape Cod League’s Hyannis Harbor Hawks, Civale threw 27 innings, had a minuscule 0.36 ERA, saved 5 games, and struck out 30 batters.

Thanks to that star turn, he won the league’s top New England Prospect Award at summer’s end and was ranked 40th on Frankie Piliere’s list of top Cape Cod League prospects on D1Baseball.com.

The market for college short relievers is very much a niche market when compared to the market for pitchers who are ace starting pitchers in college in the MLB Draft, but given Civale’s success so far and his power stuff, another quality season for the righty could end in him being the highest draft selection for Northeastern since Ottavino in 2006 and Carlos Pena way back in 1998.