FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright faces some uncertainty when it comes to his status for the start of the season.
Major League Baseball is investigating a domestic violence incident that took place in December in which Wright was arrested after an argument with his wife, Ashley.
"That's in Major League Baseball's hands," said Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. "They continue to do their investigation, and it really ends up being their decision. I know that, when I talked to them last week, they had not completed their investigation and received all the information they needed to get to make a decision."
Wright was released on bail the morning after his arrest, and the case was retired for a year by the Williamson County Courthouse in Tennessee two weeks later. In December, the couple released a statement saying that Steven didn't raise a hand at Ashley and that the incident was "purely emotional."
Wright discussed the situation for the first time with reporters on Wednesday.
"It's been tough. You try to do things and handle things especially at a personal level," said Wright. "You try to handle them with the family. It just got to the point where law enforcement got involved, which is tough, because I really want to at least tell my side of the story. It's tough on a personal level, especially because I never touched her. MLB is still doing their investigation. Once they finish their investigation, I'll be able to talk about it a little more.
"We've been going to counseling. We've been working through it. We've been trying to do as much as we can to put it past us, but it's hard, because MLB is doing their investigation and it's in the limelight. It's really hard on a personal level to get past something that's constantly being thrown at you. But I did it to myself."
Additionally, the right-hander is coming back from a cartilage restoration procedure on his left knee that forced him to miss the final five months of the 2017 season. Wright, a candidate for the Red Sox's starting rotation, is taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to his knee.
"I think it's always a possibility," said Wright when asked if he'd be ready for the start of the season. "We've still got eight weeks or whatever it is. That's my goal. It's always been my goal since I got the surgery. But it is such a unique surgery. I didn't realize how unique it was until I started asking people and no one had really had it. Now [Dustin] Pedroia has had it.
"I'm looking forward to getting him down here so we can kind of start bouncing things, what he's feeling, what he's been doing. But it's not a cut-and-dried rehab. It's take it one step at a time as far as getting through that."