Grading Mike Clevinger's 2023 Chicago White Sox season

The Chicago White Sox had an even worse off-season last year than we thought. At the time, it was clouded by the fact that Mike Clevinger was being investigated for off-the-field issues. Once again, the main storyline of the White Sox had nothing to do with baseball.

He embarrassed the organization and it was hard to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his past. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy you want on a good team that is trying to win.

No, the White Sox were not a good team in the end but they were trying to win. Clevinger was a distraction up until the season started which is not cool.

Once the season started, from a baseball point of view, Clevinger had mixed expectations. He was a great pitcher a long time ago but he was trying to regain that form following his big injury. He wasn't able to do so in 2022 with San Diego but he was a part of a very good staff which masked it.

The Chicago White Sox saw Mike Clevinger actually have a good year.

On the White Sox, they wouldn't end up with the same depth so they needed more from him. Well, low and behold, he shockingly had some pretty good numbers. In fact, he could be argued as the ace of the staff.

He went 9-9 which is mainly just because the White Sox were a horrible team. Pitcher records don't always tell the full story. He had a 3.77 ERA and he struck out 110 batters in 131.1 innings pitched. His WAR on the season was 3.3 which is not a bad number for him at all.

If his grade is based specifically on baseball, there is no denying that he deserves a good one.

2023 Final Grade: B

Mike Clevinger deserves an F for all of the distractions that he caused this team. However, his stats are B-level stats. He wasn't an A-caliber Cy Young candidate ace but he was the best the White Sox had to offer in a 61-101 season. Still, it would be nice for him to leave this off-season.

2024 Outlook:

The Chicago White Sox should not be bringing back Mike Clevinger in 2024. This team should be looking to build a certain kind of culture and he isn't it. They even put him on waivers last year toward the end but nobody took him. Now, a team might consider it if they are a starter away.