GLENDALE, Ariz. — Chicago White Sox starter Mike Clevinger will be permitted to fully participate in spring training, according to a report Tuesday by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
While Clevinger remains under investigation by Major League Baseball for allegations of domestic violence and child abuse, Nightengale reported the pitcher is not being placed on administrative leave at this time.
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The allegations were first reported Jan. 24 by The Athletic.
Olivia Finestead, the mother of Clevinger’s infant daughter, told The Athletic she informed MLB’s Department of Investigations of “incidents of physical, verbal and emotional abuse.”
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Clevinger was with the San Diego Padres at the time of the alleged incidents. He signed a one-year deal with the Sox in December.
His lawyers, in a statement to The Athletic on Jan. 24, said Clevinger “emphatically denies” the allegations.
The Sox, as part of a statement released Jan. 24, said they “were not aware of the allegations or the investigation at the time of his signing” and would “refrain from comment until MLB’s investigative process has reached its conclusion.”
MLB and the players union adopted a joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy in 2015 that states it “protects the legal and procedural rights of players (and) provides assistance to victims and families, especially information and referrals to available resources,” among other items.
The policy reads in part that “the commissioner may immediately place a player accused of a covered act on administrative leave, effective as early as the date of the notification, and may keep the player on administrative leave for up to seven days, including the date of notification, subject to the player’s right to challenge that decision.”
The commissioner also can ask the union to consent to an extension of the leave for seven more days, the policy says, or he can “defer placing the player on administrative leave until the player is either charged with a crime by law enforcement or the commissioner’s office receives credible information corroborating the allegations.”
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Pitchers and catchers report to Sox camp Wednesday and will work out at Camelback Ranch.
