David Price is definitely an interesting character when talking about his career. He has been dominant for so long, but his relationship with the media and the postseason have always been sour.
A lot of people question whether or not he should be considered a top-tier pitcher because of these problems. He has always put naysayers to rest they had the most to say in Detroit, Toronto, and Tampa. However, Boston is just a different animal between the media and the passion of the fans.
A New Start in Boston
After the 2015 season, new Red Sox GM Dave Dombrowski, who was familiar with Price in Detroit, signed the prized lefty to a massive 7 year, $217 million contract. This was the biggest contract for a pitcher in MLB History. Red Sox fans could not wait to see Price in their uniform after he single-handedly dominated them out of the bullpen in the 2008 ALCS.
2016 was a very good and underrated year for Price in Boston. From Opening Day, Price was consistent and at times dominated for the Red Sox. He finished with a 17-9 record, with a 3.99 ERA. Not great numbers for a pitcher of his caliber. However, he ate up a lot of innings and was arguably the most important pitcher of the staff.
Price was not so good in the playoffs. He got knocked around all around the park against the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the 2016 ALDS, and his postseason problems continued to haunt him.
2017 Woes
If people thought it couldn’t get any worse for Price after the end of 2016, they were very, very wrong. Before spring training it was announced that Price had issues in the elbow tendon of this throwing arm. There were so many rumors going around on whether or not he would pitch in 2017, or even 2018 for that matter.
After meeting with Dr. James Andrews, it was determined that Price would not need the dreaded Tommy John surgery. This was a huge bullet Price and the Red Sox were dodging, but nobody really knew what he could contribute to the club in 2017.
David Price made his return to the Red Sox pitching staff, just not as a member of the starting rotation. He made his debut out of the pen against the White Sox on May 29th. He had a solid return, getting in 5 IP with 3 ER. Better than the no inning and no runs that were expected when the elbow news broke surface.
Price eventually made his return to the rotation, and actually had a few very solid games. One notable game was against the Yankees, where JBJ made one of the best catches in Fenway Park history, robbing Aaron Judge of a homerun. He went 8 IP, only giving up one run to split a crucial doubleheader. I remember watching this game on vacation and thinking to myself “He’s back.”
2017 Postseason Campaign
The 2017 playoff push was one of the most stressful times that I’ve experienced as a Red Sox fan. I remember waking up every morning checking my phone to see if the Yankees had won their game or not and constantly checking the standings. Even when the Red Sox were ahead by three or four games, it felt like we were back five.
On Saturday, September 30th, the Red Sox were on their way to a second straight division title. Late in the game, seventh inning, things starting to get a little shaky.
David Price comes trotting into the game, the Fenway faithful behind him. Before you know it, he’s facing George Springer with two outs, and K’s him up on one of the nastiest pitches I’ve seen in a long time: unhittable fastball from Price. Consequently Fenway roared as Price let out a monstrous yell.
I remember watching the moment with my friends and thinking, “Holy shit, this David Price bullpen thing is for real.” David Price was slowly starting to win me back, and starting to win back the fans.
The ALDS
Game 2 against the 2017 ALDS against the Astros was one to forget, just like Game 1. Ugly. But that is not the point. The highlight of the game was Price coming in out of the pen, and just absolutely mowing down the Houston hitters. Price threw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball against a Houston lineup that murdered Drew Pomeranz and Chris Sale in that series. Price was once again excellent, and it was becoming apparent that the old David Price was coming back.
Game 3 of the ALDS was in my opinion Price’s defining moment of his Red Sox tenure. October 8th, 2017 at Fenway Park was one of the craziest days of my life, thanks in big part to DP24. In a do or die game, I was lucky enough to be sitting in the front row out on the bleachers, where tensions were running high. There was a feeling in the atmosphere that something big was going to happen, and that someone was going to step up to save 2017 Red Sox baseball.
The Astros jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, and the ballpark was silent. Everyone was pissed. But Boston battled back, and was able to take a 4-3 lead into the fourth inning when Price came in.
Pure dominance to say the least. Price threw four scoreless innings and allowed the Boston bats to explode. Price was so amped on the mound it felt like Houston had absolutely no chance to score any runs.
Even though Houston ended up winning the series, the ALDS was a big time coming out party for Price. He once again showed why he is one of the game’s big time pitchers.
What Does 2018 Have in Store?
2018 is the most crucial year for David Price in a Red Sox uniform. Now healthy, he needs to prove for a full season that he is a Cy Young caliber pitcher and he is worth the contract that he is under.
I cannot wait to see the next chapter that DP writes in his Red Sox story.