David Price is back in the Boston Red Sox rotation. Price made his second start and picked up his first win of the season against the Orioles.
Last week after David Price went 5 innings allowing 2 hits and 3 earned runs, Price impressed, but didn’t convince. Saturday night was a different story though.
The 31-year old southpaw allowed 3 hits and 1 earned runs over 7 strong innings to go along with 7 strikeouts.
Price had elite fastball command, and the rest of his arsenal fed off of his fastball. His issue last year was exactly that, fastball command, which didn’t allow him to have the same success he’s enjoyed in years past.
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With that being said, he wasn’t afraid to pitch to contact tonight. Although he struck out 7 batters, he was more confident pitching to contact tonight, another issue he had last year. Price allowed 227 hits in 2016 and a career-high 30 home runs, and if he’s more comfortable pitching to contact, he’ll have a lot more success in Boston.
Aside from the fastball, his cutter has probably been his best pitch. It has much tighter spin than it did last year and is producing a lot more swing and misses.
This is a very encouraging sign for the Red Sox. Price will usually be matching up against pitchers lower in the rotation that are nowhere near the caliber pitcher he is. So with Chris Sale shutting it down against whoever he faces, and usually against an opposing ace, Price gets an easier assignment.
Aside from Price, the offense had a little more pop tonight. Playing at Camden Yards was much needed to feed the ego of Hanley Ramirez. Seeing a ball fly way over the left field fence could be big in getting Hanley going in June.
Additionally, Mookie Betts had a nice night at the dish, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI single. With the amount of inconsistency in the Red Sox lineup from Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley, Hanley, and Dustin Pedroia‘s health, Betts needs to begin hitting more consistently and get his average back up around .300. His current mark of .264 will not cut it as the table setter of what should be an elite lineup.
So overall, David Price was fantastic and Red Sox fans should be very encouraged, and it was very nice to see the Sox knock a great arm in Dylan Bundy out of the game in 5 innings.