If anyone says David Price went on the DL so he didn’t have to face the Fenway crowd, just laugh.
If that were the case, he would not have missed nearly two months. So yes, David Price is back with the Boston Red Sox. He was activated from the Disabled List on Thursday–just minutes after the David Pastrnak deal was announced. Not sure why they were both announced in the same time block but hey, Boston sports fans ain’t complaining.
Price has been on the DL twice this season and he really doesn’t have much time to stretch his arm back out by the end of the season. That said, there was a lot of speculation that Price would pitch out of the bullpen if he were to come back this season. And boom, Masslive Red Sox beat writer Chris Smith reported that’s what the Red Sox plan to do.
https://twitter.com/SmittyOnMLB/status/908347359045840897
For the Red Sox, this is definitely a good thing. They don’t have much to work with for left-handed relievers right now. There’s no Andrew Miller in this bullpen. No one talks about this but the Red Sox primary left-handed reliever, Robby Scott, has a 6.75 ERA in his last 24 outings. That’s not competent. And there’s no trust in Fernando Abad, who only pitches in low-leverage situations, so Price should definitely be better than both of them.
Price is 5-3 with a 3.82 ERA in 11 games (all starts) for the Red Sox this season and in his MLB career, left-handed batters are hitting .227 with a .598 OPS off Price.
The other added benefit here is he won’t blow the Red Sox season this year with another lousy playoff start like he did against the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. Remember, Price has never won a playoff start, but he pitched well out of the bullpen in the 2008 ALCS.