Which David Price are we going to see?
This was not the journey that David Price had anticipated when he signed his $217 million contract. He anticipated winning World Series rings and bringing the Sox deep into the postseason. He did not envision bickering with Dennis Eckersley, missing a good chunk of the season with injury problems, or coming out of the bullpen.
However, Price seems to have become a very useful piece in the bullpen. Based on prior postseasons though, should we expect anything different from him? He has always seemed to be a completely different pitcher in the postseason compared to the regular season. With a pitcher that owns two Cy Youngs, you would expect him to be a good pitcher all the way through the season right? Not with Price. He has an earned run average of 5.54 throughout all of his postseason experiences. You are telling me that you trust those numbers this postseason?
Maybe coming out of the bullpen could change that trend for Price. he has come out of the bullpen before. When he did, his numbers were exponentially better. in 2008, Price came out of the bullpen for the Tampa Bay Rays. When he did, he absolutely dominated. He had an ERA around 1.7 and was absolutely dominant. Will he buck his recent postseason trend now coming out of the bullpen for the Sox? We will find out, but I do know he will be a very vital piece to a deep postseason run.