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The San Diego Padres acquired Clevinger as part of a nine-player trade in August 2020, but he sustained what was diagnosed as a right elbow impingement in late September and underwent Tommy John surgery early in the ensuing offseason before missing all of 2021. He returned as a slightly lesser version of himself, posting a 4.33 ERA in 114⅓ innings with the Padres in 2022 and a 3.77 ERA in 131⅓ innings with the White Sox, who signed him to a $12 million contract, in 2023. Clevinger went from striking out 10.0 batters per nine innings from 2016 to 2020 to a strikeout rate of 7.4 from 2022 to 2023.
Clevinger was accused of domestic abuse by the mother of one of his children and found himself under investigation by Major League Baseball officials early in 2023 but ultimately was not suspended. The league said it interviewed “more than 15 individuals, in addition to Mr. Clevinger and the complainant” and reviewed “thousands of electronic communication records” before closing its inquiry.
Clevinger agreed in March to submit to evaluations and comply with recommendations made by the treatment board that oversees domestic violence and drugs of abuse.
Information from ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez was used in this report.
