San Diego Padres right-hander Mike Clevinger will undergo Tommy John surgery on Tuesday and the team expects him to miss the 2021 season.
While making the announcement, the Padres said they signed Clevinger to a two-year contract through the 2022 season.
According to MLB Network, Clevinger signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal with incentives that could push the total to $12 million. He will receive a $3 million signing bonus, $2 million salary in 2021 and $6.5 million in 2022.
Clevinger was diagnosed with a right posterior elbow impingement on Sept. 23 after his final regular-season start against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was removed from his lone postseason appearance, also against the Dodgers, in the second inning after feeling more pain in the elbow.
This will mark the second time Clevinger has undergone Tommy John surgery. He missed most of the 2012 and 2013 seasons after undergoing the procedure while he was a minor leaguer in the Los Angeles Angels’ farm system.
Clevinger, 29, went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in four regular-season starts for the Padres after being acquired from the Cleveland Indians in a nine-player deal on Aug. 31. Overall, Clevinger went 3-2 with a 3.02 ERA in eight starts in 2020.
Clevinger fell out of favor with the Indians after an incident in which he and fellow pitcher Zach Plesac violated COVID-19 protocols on Aug. 8 during a road trip in Chicago. Plesac was sent back to Cleveland the following day but Clevinger initially remained silent before the club learned he also was involved on Aug. 10.
Clevinger was sharply criticized by teammates during a clubhouse meeting and the Indians placed him on the restricted list and subsequently demoted him to the team’s alternate site.
He returned to the major league team on Aug. 26 and was dealt to the Padres five days later in a deal that netted Cleveland six players, including outfielder Josh Naylor, catcher Austin Hedges and right-hander Cal Quantrill.
Clevinger is 44-23 with a 3.19 ERA in 105 appearances (92 starts) with the Indians (2016-20) and Padres.
