The Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they have signed right-handed pitcher Steven Wright to a minor league deal with an invite to Major League camp. The 36-year-old Wright didn’t pitch during the 2020 season. He’s a knuckleball pitcher with 347.2 innings of big league time over seven seasons (2013-19) with the Boston Red Sox.
Wright last pitched in the majors in 2019, making six relief appearances for the Red Sox. He spent the second half of the season on the injured list with a toe injury, then went unsigned in 2020, so he hasn’t pitched for nearly two full years. He was suspended for 80 games during the first half of the season for PEDs. His best season came back in 2016 when he made 24 starts, posting a 3.33 ERA in 156.2 innings, with a 1.25 WHIP and 127 strikeouts. He was an All-Star that season, but hasn’t had a healthy year since the end of that 2016 season when he suffered a shoulder injury. He had a 2.68 ERA in 53.2 innings in 2018, though he was limited due to a knee injury and an early season suspension for a domestic violence case that took place over the previous off-season. In 2017 he missed half of the season with a sprained knee.
