White Sox right-hander Mike Clevinger has been scratched from tonight’s start due to elbow soreness. Fellow righty Jake Woodford will be called up to take the ball instead. Since Woodford is not on the 40-man roster, a corresponding move will be required to add him. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to relay the news on X.
At this point, the club has not yet provided details on Clevinger’s injury. Since he is being scratched just hours before his schedule start, it seems fair to conclude that it’s something that popped up recently. He tossed 4 2/3 innings in his most recent start, finishing with 98 pitches thrown that day.
Further details will likely be forthcoming, but any injury to a pitcher’s elbow is always at least moderately concerning. Clevinger underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020 and hasn’t quite been the same pitcher since. He had a 3.19 ERA in his career before going under the knife but has a 4.20 mark since then. He had a 27.3% strikeout rate prior to the surgery but has punched out just 19.4% of batters faced after.
He lingered in free agency this winter and didn’t land a deal until the Sox signed him in early April to a modest one-year deal with a $3MM guarantee. He went to the minors to build up his workload and was recalled in early May. The Sox were likely hoping for him to stabilized the rotation a bit by eating some innings and perhaps turning himself into a midseason trade candidate. That plan hasn’t worked out so far, as he has a 6.75 ERA through four starts and is now going on the injured list for some unknown amount of time.
More to come.
