The Chicago White Sox added Mike Clevinger early in the off-season. It looked like a move that was going to help them solidify their rotation knowing that Johnny Cueto was going to be leaving. With Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, and Michael Kopech, I felt like a solid group that could have a good year.
Outside of Cease, however, everyone is a question mark coming into 2023. That includes Clevinger. He had a mediocre season in 2022 with the San Diego Padres. He was coming back from Tommy John surgery while mostly playing against the best division in the National League.
Though, things got ugly during the winter as Major League Baseball was investigating him for domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault. It was a months-long investigation that the White Sox claimed not to know about when they signed him.
It wasn’t a good look for anyone as it took place. On Sunday, however, an update came out on the status of his investigation. It is now complete and he will not face discipline for anything. This means that Clevinger is going to pitch for the White Sox in 2023.
Breaking: The investigation into White Sox pitcher, Mike Clevinger, is complete. He WILL NOT face discipline. Additionally, he’s voluntarily agreed to evaluations by MLB/MLBPA joint treatment boards and will comply with their recommendations – if there are any.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) March 5, 2023
The Chicago White Sox won't see Mike Clevinger get punished at all.
The Chicago White Sox released a statement on the matter and made a point to note that they are not going to comment any further on the situation. They weren’t really ever very vocal about it anyway as the investigation took place. They let the MLB and MLBPA handle it.
Now, he is going to continue with his routine at spring training. The White Sox will have him as a part of their rotation and they hope he has an excellent year. As mentioned before, everyone needs to prove themselves again outside or Cease.
Clevinger has to do all of this while getting used to a new team. Performing well can lead to the rest of the group following suit. Now that the investigation is over and he isn’t being disciplined, we’ll see how that positively affects him if at all.
He has voluntarily agreed to evaluations by the MLB and MLBPA joint treatment boards which is something that he might be doing for a reason. He will go with any of their recommendations if there are any over the time he is doing it.