Chicago White Sox Mike Clevinger became embroiled in controversy in late January after the mother of Clevinger's child, Olivia Finestead, alleged that the 32-year old starting pitcher had been guilty of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse towards her, as well as child abuse towards their daughter. The MLB promptly investigated such allegations in cooperation with Finestead.

However, the MLB has not yet levied any kind of punishment towards Clevinger. In fact, they have not put the embattled pitcher on administrative leave yet. (For reference, it only took two days for them to place Trevor Bauer on administrative leave.)

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred recently explained the reasoning behind their decision not to place Mike Clevinger on administrative leave yet despite the very serious domestic violence allegations hurled against the White Sox starter.

“It’s not an automatic thing. It’s a product of what we know in the investigation this point of time. It depends on what we have, and where we have,” Manfred said, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

The MLB began their investigation on January 24; at the time of writing, their inquisition has lasted three weeks.

Finestead alleged that Mike Clevinger choked her in June 2022 and then slapped her not too long after that in a hotel room when the San Diego Padres faced the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition, Clevinger also allegedly threw a chewed-up tobacco towards their child.

Clevinger's camp quickly came out and denied all allegations, stating that Clevinger “has never harmed Ms. Finestead or his daughter” and that her accusations are “baseless”. The 32-year old pitcher's lawyers then made sure to clarify that “Mike has done nothing wrong”. Clevinger also added that fans should “wait until the actual facts are out there” before they make judgments on his character.

The White Sox signed Mike Clevinger to a one-year, $12 million deal back in December 2022.

Rob Manfred and the MLB have had to deal with a few domestic violence cases in recent years. Most recently, they suspended Carlos Martinez, most known for his stint with the St. Louis Cardinals, for 85 games after he violated the league's joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy.

There may not be a higher-profile domestic violence case for the league, however, than Trevor Bauer's. The league suspended Bauer for 324 games (reduced to 194) in a landmark ruling.