The Pirates announced the signing of the right-hand man Steven Wright to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The deal reunites the former Red Sox associate with Ben Cherington, general manager of Pittsburgh, who led the Boston-front office from 2011-’15.
Wright worked from 2013 to 19 mostly as a swing for the Red Sox. He peaked in 2016 and threw 156.2 overs of 3.33 ERA ball en route to an All-Star pick. Wright, a knuckleballer, has never received so many casualties, but has caused very poor contact throughout his great career.
The 36-year-old has not saved much in the past few years. Several injuries and a few suspensions (fifteen matches for domestic violence in 2018, then eighty matches for drug-enhancing drugs in 2019) have kept him up to 84 MLB overs since the start of the 2017 season. Wright has not gone since undergoing surgery on Tommy John in October 2019.