David Price has been rightfully judged by his lack of postseason success thus far with the Red Sox. Tonight is his golden chance to put those critics to bed.
Ask nearly any Boston Red Sox fan what David Price‘s contract is and they will tell you the exact details: 7-year, $217 million dollars with an opt-out after 2018.
It was always a comparison between Price and former Red Sox star Jon Lester, but Dave Dombrowski went with his familiar hand in Price.
Since signing that deal, Price has been the most scrutinized, sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly, player in baseball. From his slow start in Boston, to Eck-Gate, to coming out of the bullpen, to the Fortnite saga, to his strong second half this year, Price has experienced nearly everything since signing with the Red Sox.
However, tonight he gets a chance to leave all of that in the past and start a new run in Boston. His last outing was a stepping stone. Sure, his outing against the Yankees in the ALDS was not good at all. But he did what Alex Cora asked of him in Game 2 of this series: Give the Red Sox a chance to win.
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Everybody knows Price’s postseason numbers. He’s 0-9 in 11 starts with one of the highest postseason ERA’s of all-time. But seeing other great pitchers like Clayton Kershaw buck their postseason trends and have good starts leaves some hope for Price. He will never be Madison Bumgarner in the postseason, but he should be serviceable.
4.2 innings of work in Game 2, with four earned runs that easily could have been two runs if Xander Bogaerts had made a timely throw. Outside of one pitch to Marwin Gonzales, Price was solid.
Price will be going on short rest tonight, and even shorter rest now after nearly entering the game last night following Craig Kimbrel‘s near breakdown.
Price does not need to go seven innings tonight, and odds are he probably will not come close to that. The Red Sox need five innings from Price tonight to help the bullpen.
As fans of the Red Sox, Price deserves another fair shot. We have seen him dominate in the postseason, even though it was in the bullpen. Even in Detroit, Price had an outing of 8 innings and 2 earned runs in the playoffs.
He has it in him.
With a chance to send the Red Sox to the World Series, it’s time for Price to play to his mega-contract. But as fans, it is also time for us to embrace Price.
The Red Sox will send their big money pitcher to the mound in a big money game. They sit one win away from the World Series. It’s time we see the real David Price.