After looking dominant on Wednesday night, Mike Clevinger had an injury that looked like it was going to signal the end of his season, and probably next season too. But, the injury update looks promising, and he shouldn't miss much time.
Clevinger Got Lucky
After Clevinger threw a pitch to JD Martinez in the 5th inning, he was seen immediately grabbing and shaking his right arm. That is never a good sign, as it usually means that Tommy John is in the pitcher's future. Luckily, it seems that he avoided that or anything major.
This was the best-case scenario for the White Sox, as Clevinger was looking great and showing signs of the pitcher he was in Cleveland. Also, the White Sox have zero starting pitching depth so they would not be able to afford a major injury to one of their starting pitchers.
So far on the year, Clevinger is 3-4 with a 3.88 ERA over 62 innings. He has looked very good in his last few starts and has been one of the better, more consistent starters on the Sox this year. If he looks to miss any time, I would expect Jesse Scholtens to get called back up.
Looking Ahead
This injury news is big for a lot of different reasons. It allows the White Sox to get more creative as the season goes on. They can keep him in the rotation, they can trade him, or they can pick up his option for next year. There may be some debate on what they should do, but if they don't plan to pick his option up, then they should trade him at the deadline.
The fact that Clevinger will not miss the rest of the season will be beneficial for the Sox, and hopefully, he can get a few more good starts in before the trade deadline. I am not sure what the Sox could get for him, but it is a seller's market so perhaps they could get a young arm in return.
If they choose to keep him, he will have to play a big role in the rotation next year, as it is likely Lance Lynn is gone, along with Lucas Giolito. The Sox will have a lot of moves to make between July and March, so let's see what Rick Hahn has up his sleeve.
