Pitcher brings baggage
Suspended in 2018 for domestic violence
FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Pirates’ latest attempt to add pitching depth might be their most interesting of them all.
It surely requires the most context, given Steven Wright’s story.
The deal itself is fairly innocuous, as Pittsburgh added the 36-year-old knuckleballer on a minor league deal Sunday that carries with it an invitation to big league camp. It’s a low-risk move late in spring training.
In parts of seven seasons with the Red Sox from 201319, Wright was effective while working primarily out of the bullpen, producing a 24-16 record to go along with a 3.86 ERA and 271 strikeouts in 347.2 innings over 81 appearances (44 starts).
Wright also comes with some baggage, which requires a lengthier explanation.
In March 2018, Wright was suspended for 15 games without pay for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. That’s tied to a Dec. 8, 2017, incident in which Wright was arrested following a heated argument with his wife, Shannon, inside their Tennessee home.
Wright denied hitting his wife, and prosecutors eventually retired the case contingent on several factors, including the completion of an anger management course and no new criminal charges for at least a year.
“I never touched her,” Wright told reporters in February 2018. “That’s probably the hardest thing, for me to sit there and see people talk about me being a wife-beater and all that stuff, and I didn’t even make physical contact.”
The couple underwent counseling, and Wright expressed remorse over the argument escalating to that state. According to the Boston Globe, Shannon Wright supported how the case was handled and the couple remains together.
After MLB completed its own investigation, commissioner Rob Manfred issued a statement explaining why Wright was suspended.
“While it’s clear that Mr. Wright regrets what
transpired that evening, takes full responsibility for his actions and has committed himself to treatment and counseling components of the [MLB domestic violence] policy, I have concluded that Mr. Wright’s conduct on Dec. 8 violated the policy and warrants discipline,” Manfred wrote in March 2018.
Wright was suspended for the first 80 games of the 2019 season after testing positive for human growth hormone. He did not dispute the positive test but did express surprise that Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 (GHRP-2) was found in his system.
“Although I do not dispute the validity of the test, I was shocked as I have never intentionally ingested anything for performanceenhancing purposes,” Wright said in a statement issued by the MLB Players Association, reported by The New York Times. “I have fully cooperated with MLB and will continue to try and identify the source of the result.”
On the mound, Wright basically saved his career after adopting the knuckleball while with the Indians in 2011. His breakout year came in 2016, when Wright went 13-6 with a 3.33 ERA. That season, Wright established career-highs in appearances (24), wins, innings pitched (156.2) and strikeouts (127).
He finished 2016 ranked 10th in the AL in ERA, ninth in batting average against (.235), second in complete games (four) and eighth in winning percentage (.684).
The success was shortlived, however, as he pitched just 24 innings the next season because of cartilage restoration surgery in his left knee.
Cleveland selected Wright in the second round of the 2006 draft. He was traded to Boston on July 31, 2012, and made his MLB debut with the Red Sox the next season.
If Wright pitches well, he likely profiles as someone who could throw multiple innings out of the bullpen. He did not pitch at all last season and logged just 6.1 innings in 2019.
After his serving the first suspension, the one tied to violating MLB’s domestic violence policy, Wright actually found some traction, pitching to a 2.68 ERA in 20 games (53.2 innings) with the Red Sox, striking out 42 and walking 26.
However, a chronic issue with Wright’s left knee kept him out of the 2018 postseason. He eventually had arthroscopic surgery and a debridement to remove damaged tissue in November 2018.
If that was the only injury Wright was trying to overcome, that would be enough. But he also had Tommy John surgery in October 2019, keeping him out of games entirely last season.