The Pirates announced the signing of the right-hander Steven Wright to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The deal brings together former Red Sox pitcher and Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington, who led the Boston administration in 2011-15.
Wright mainly worked as a swingman for the 2013-19 Red Sox. It peaked in 2016, launching 156.2 ERA 3.33 ball passes en route to an All-Star selection. A knuckleballer, Wright unsurprisingly never got many strikeouts, but he did induce many weak contacts throughout his main career.
The 36-year-old has not shot much in recent years. Several injuries and a couple of suspensions (fifteen games for domestic violence in 2018, then eighty games for drugs to improve performance in 2019) have kept him in 84 MLB entries since the start of the 2017 season. Wright hasn’t thrown since the surgery. Tommy John in October 2019.