Bucs give right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger a shot | News, Sports, Jobs

FILE – Chicago White Sox’s Mike Clevinger pitches in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, April 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

PITTSBURGH — Right-hander Mike Clevinger agreed Wednesday to a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and will attend big league spring training camp.

The 35-year-old is 60-44 with a 3.55 ERA across nine seasons with Cleveland, San Diego and the Chicago White Sox.

Clevinger has dealt with injuries in recent seasons and struggled with the White Sox last spring after being moved to the bullpen. He bounced back after returning to the rotation with Triple-A Charlotte. Clevinger went 7-3 with a 4.20 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 22 starts in the minors last summer.

The Pirates have a young rotation led by reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller and rookie Bubba Chandler, who went 4-1 during a stint in the majors at the end of last season.

Clevinger’s best days came with Cleveland from 2017-19 when he was 38-18 with a 2.91 ERA.

Elsewhere in MLB:

– Mickey Lolich, who had three complete-game victories for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, has died. Lolich was the last Major League Baseball pitcher to achieve that feat in a single World Series. Denny McLain was the star of Detroit’s pitching staff in ’68, but Lolich was the Most Valuable Player of the Series, with a 1.67 ERA and Game 7 road victory over Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals. Lolich jumping into catcher Bill Freeham’s arms after Freeham caught a foul pop-up by Tim McCarver for the final out became an iconic image of Detroit’s championship season. The Tigers say Lolich’s wife told them that he died Wednesday in hospice care. Mickey Lolich was 85.

– Free agent pitcher Framber Valdez and the Detroit Tigers have agreed to a $115 million, three-year contract, a person familiar with the situation tells The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. Valdez became one of baseball’s most durable starters with the Houston Astros. The left-hander is set to join a Tigers rotation anchored by two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Valdez is a two-time All-Star and 2022 World Series champion. He went 13-11 last year with a 3.66 earned run average.