Mike Clevinger To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

The White Sox announced this afternoon that veteran right-hander Mike Clevinger will miss the remainder of the 2024 season following disc replacement surgery in his neck, which he’s scheduled to undergo on August 1. The 33-year-old has been on the injured list due to elbow inflammation since late May but started a rehab assignment at the Triple-A level last month.

Clevinger, 33, will ultimately make just four starts in the majors this year after signing with the White Sox on a $3MM deal shortly after Opening Day. He struggled in the limited time he was healthy enough to take the mound with a 6.75 ERA and 6.21 FIP in 16 innings of work. It’s a disappointing showing for both player and team in Clevinger’s second consecutive year with the White Sox, particularly after he delivered a solid season in 2023 when he posted a 3.77 ERA and 4.28 FIP in 131 1/3 innings of work while ending the season on a strong note with a 2.45 ERA over his final 11 starts.

That strong stretch to end the 2023 campaign was reminiscent of the veteran’s best days, when he pitched for Cleveland. After a difficult rookie season in 2016, Clevinger broke out in 2017 to become one of the better starters in the game and over the next three seasons posted a fantastic 2.96 ERA with a 3.32 FIP in 447 2/3 innings of work. Among pitchers with at least 400 innings of work across those three seasons, Clevinger’s ERA ranked sixth in the majors behind a quintet of multi-time Cy Young award winners: Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Corey Kluber.

Unfortunately, things came off the rails for Clevinger shortly after he was traded to the Padres during the shortened 2020 season. He underwent Tommy John surgery late in the year and missed the entire 2021 campaign while rehabbing. He’s struggled to stay on the mound ever since, having pitched just just 303 1/3 innings of work total since the start of the 2023 season. While his overall numbers during that time paint a picture of a roughly average back-end arm, he’s frequent injury woes and step back from his peak in the late 2010’s have left him unable to contribute anything even close to his former dominant form.

While Clevinger’s injury woes and lackluster results when he did take the mound this year left him a somewhat unlikely trade candidate in the days leading up to Tuesday’s deadline, his impending surgery not only eliminates whatever remote possibility of a trade still existed but also leaves the White Sox without a veteran arm who otherwise may have been able to fill out the rotation following the possible departure of arms like Erick Fedde and Garrett Crochet, both of whom have found themselves in the rumor mill quite frequently this summer.

A timeline for Clevinger’s return to the mound isn’t yet clear, though it’s worth noting that veteran outfielder Jesse Winker underwent a similar procedure in October 2022 and was back in action in time for Spring Training last year. If Clevinger follows a similar timeline, he’ll enter free agency this winter coming off a lost season in 2024 but likely to be ready to go in time for when pitchers and catchers report next February.