New Pirates hurler Steven Wright piled up far more off-field catastrophes than on-field accomplishments during his final years with the Red Sox. On Monday, Wright said his domestic violence arrest in 2017 and suspension for performance-enhancing drugs in 2019 were part of a sordid past.
In a call with reporters, the knuckleballer said he wishes to place that chapter of his life in the rearview mirror. "I know it wasn't a great part of my life, but it happened," he said. "It's a dark past. It's something I'm definitely sorry, for not only myself, but for the game of baseball and my family, but we've moved past that."
Wright also said Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, who was Red Sox GM for part of Wright's tenure in Boston, conducted an "extensive" vetting job on him.
Wright enjoyed one stellar season in Boston, going 13-6 with a 3.33 ERA in an All-Star 2016 campaign. But it was all downhill after that. He was arrested for domestic violence the following December, with police alleging he prevented his wife from calling 911 to report the incident.
MLB suspended Wright for 15 games in 2018.
"I never touched her," Wright said at the time. "That's probably the hardest thing, for me to sit there and see people talk about me being a wife-beater and all that stuff, and I didn't even make physical contact."
Two years ago, Wright was suspended 60 games for PED use — effectively ending his time in Boston.
With a thin pitching staff, the Pirates can use all of the help they can get. But is the kind of guy you really want to bring onboard, even on a minor league deal?
