David Price: A big move that had Sox fans on high hopes led to them being disappointed by David Price in 2016. Now, Price didn’t have a terrible season (17-9 3.99 ERA), but it was far from the ace material numbers that was expected. After signing a 30 million over 7 years, he was an early favorite to be one of the best pitchers in baseball – and he came up short. In fact, he wasn’t even the best in the rotation for most of the season. On a positive end, Price logged the most innings in baseball (230) for the second time in his career, showing that when he is healthy he can pitch late into games and be a dependable force in the starting rotation. But will he bounce back?
My Take: Pierce Dennis of BoSox Injection said something ridiculous earlier this offseason, and I am all about it. David Price will win the Cy Young in the 2017 season. With the focus going to be on Chris Sale, Price will not have all eyes on him to produce. It is speculated that his poor season was from him “trying too hard” to be the guy the Red Sox needed, which makes almost too much sense. With no pressure Price will flourish like he did in 2015 and 2012 where he finished second and won the Cy Young race, and he’ll take the 2017 Cy Young against expectations. And to add to it, in some of his career worst seasons, he bounced back with Cy Young contending numbers. Prepare yourselves people, it’s the return of David Price.
My Prediction: 20-7 2.73 ERA with 220.0 IP, 240 K’s. Back to being elite.