The Pittsburgh Pirates are still sorting out their roster for the upcoming season as spring training approaches.
The Pirates have signed right-handed veteran starter Mike Clevinger to a minor league deal, according to the Associated Press. This will come with a non-roster invite to major league camp for spring training.
In 2025, with the Chicago White Sox, Clevinger pitched in eight games to a 7.94 ERA with three strikeouts and a terrible eight walks.
Mostly a starter throughout his career, Clevinger has had an up-and-down career filled with injuries.
With a career 3.55 ERA, 60 wins and a 17.3 bWAR, Clevinger may look like a steal on the surface, but he has struggled in recent years.
What Should Pittsburgh Pirates Fans Expect From Clevinger?
Clevinger was a highly-regarded pitcher with the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres.
Debuting in 2016, Clevinger possessed a great fastball and breaking pitches. He fully broke out with Cleveland in 2017, pitching to a 3.11 ERA in 27 games, striking out 137 batters. Even from the positives shown, his clear weakness was control, with 60 walks.
In 2018, Clevinger had a 3.02 ERA in 32 games (200 innings), with 207 strikeouts. The walks were still high (67), but he had turned himself into a great pitcher.
He continued to show great results with an elite fastball averaging in the low to mid 90’s and a sweeper. During the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Clevinger pitched to a 2.71 and 3.02 ERA, respectively.
In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he was traded to the Padres in a blockbuster deal that included several high-profile names.
He underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2020 season, missing the entire 2021 campaign. In 2022 with the Padres, he was ineffective, as some pitchers are the year after the surgery.
He signed with Chicago as a free agent and put up a 3.77 ERA in 2023. However, due to injuries and horrid control, he ended his White Sox tenure poorly.
The upside is still there for Clevinger. However, he is entering his age-35 season and will have to show his early-career stuff to warrant a chance again in the big leagues.
How Does Clevinger Fit on the Roster?
While the Pirates have Cy Young winner Paul Skenes leading their rotation, the rest of the rotation is a question mark.
Mitch Keller figures to be the second arm in the rotation. Youngsters Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft figure to have expanded roles after appearing in 2025.
With Jared Jones still recovering from last year’s UCL surgery, the fifth starter job is up for grabs.
Clevinger might have as good a shot as any, but will be competing with Hunter Barco, Carmen Mlodzinski and others. His control needs to be better than the last few seasons to break camp.
Mlodzinski pitched in 34 games in 2025 (12 starts), having a 3.55 ERA. As for Barco, He didn’t give up an earned run in three innings.
If Clevinger can unlock what made him such a dominant pitcher and, better yet, stay healthy, this could be a low-risk, high-reward signing for Pittsburgh.
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Matthew Singer Matthew Singer is a sports reporter covering MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2025, and has two years of experience covering local professional, collegiate and high school sports, including writing for Cronkite News and Arizona PBS. More about Matthew Singer
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