The injury bug has hit the Cleveland Guardians at quite an unfortunate time in the season, as they will be without starting pitchers Zach Plesac and Aaron Civale for the time being.

The Guardians announced ahead of their home series opener against the Seattle Mariners on Friday that they placed both Plesac and Civale on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 30. Plesac is dealing with a right fifth metacarpal fracture, while Civale will miss time due to right forearm inflammation.

Guardians manager Terry Francona noted on Friday that Plesac's right hand was swollen following his start in the 4-3 road win over the Mariners last Saturday. The “thinking” in regard to just how Plesac suffered the ailment is that he injured his hand while punching the dirt on the mound after allowing a solo home run to first baseman Jake Lamb during the matchup. He ended up facing one more batter before capping off his 7.0 innings of work in the contest.

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Plesac was slated to take the mound for the Guardians’ matchup against the Mariners on Friday, but the team will now hand the ball over to Cody Morris, who is set to make his major league debut. Morris has posted a 2.35 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched for the Guardians’ Triple-A team in the Columbus Clippers this season. Civale was penciled in to feature for Cleveland on Saturday, but now Xzavion Curry will start in his place.

Plesac has been among Cleveland’s more reliable hurlers so far in the 2022 campaign, ranking at fourth on the team in starts with 23. He sits at a 4.39 ERA to go along with 99 strikeouts recorded in 127.0 innings pitched in the season. On the other hand, Civale has logged 16 starts in the campaign, as two previous IL stints forced him to miss multiple scheduled starts earlier in the year.

As it stands, the Guardians hold a mere 1.0 game lead over the Minnesota Twins for the top spot in the AL Central standings. They are on a two-game losing streak, as they wound up dropping a three-game home series to the Baltimore Orioles. Overall, multiple key series clashes await Cleveland later in the month, including a three-game road set against the Twins coming next week.