Moment will suit him fine
Perfect opportunity awaits Price
The dark blue suit clearly had come straight from the dry cleaner. David Price peeled away its protective plastic, put on a French-cuffed white shirt, and tucked the last two items into his duffle bag.
Even with today’s early first pitch, Price had not flown ahead of his teammates.
He watched yesterday’s game from the dugout, dressed in the Fenway Park clubhouse and boarded the team charter just like everyone else. For nearly three months, he’s been an ace in waiting, and he looked the part, capable and confident, heading into his much-anticipated season debut this afternoon in Chicago.
What a perfect opportunity to make his presence felt.
If this were a week ago, the stakes would be too high. John Farrell seemed to be on the hot seat, the Red Sox were struggling to keep their heads above water, and Price would have needed a cape and utility belt for a team in search of a superhero.
If the Red Sox had won yesterday, the stakes would have been too low. Pitch a great game against the White Sox, and the winning streak continues. Ho hum. Struggle to a loss, and Price would have been an unwelcome distraction for a team that was doing just fine without him, thank you very much.
Instead, Price arrives somewhere in the middle, They no longer need one guy to right the ship, but they could sure use a win to regain the momentum of a terrific homestand.
The Red Sox went 5-1 this week, and they’ve won six of their last seven. The bullpen is relatively rested, the lineup seems to have found some traction, and the defense is past its early-season problems.
The Red Sox are finally starting to look like a good team.
Price can make them a great one.
“He has shown very good physical stuff (in his rehab outings),” manager John Farrell said. “Now it’s a matter of going out and executing, bottom line.”
Too often this season, the Red Sox have played under a cloud of missing pieces. A flu bug decimated their clubhouse in the first two weeks of the season. Brock Holt, Steven Wright, Pablo Sandoval and Marco Hernandez went on the disabled list in a span of two weeks in late April and early May. Vague updates on Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg are constant elements of Farrell’s daily press briefings.
But with Price, the Red Sox finally get a key piece back three full months after a spring training elbow injury.
Price has been elusive during the rehab process — he struggled through two minor league starts, and he’s not exactly playing with house money given his so-so Red Sox debut last season.
But none of that matters today.
At 2:10 Boston time, in a uniform that’s thrown too many simulated games and not enough real ones, Price will have a real chance to be a difference maker. Yesterday’s loss will be easily forgotten if the Red Sox make the most of this 10-game road trip through Chicago, Baltimore and New York. If everything stays on schedule, Price will pitch again against the Orioles, then make his home debut at Fenway a week from Friday, the day the Red Sox return to Boston.
We’ve just seen how different a team can look in the span of one week — from unflattering reports about Farrell’s job security to having the thirdmost wins in the American League — so imagine how much different things could look a week and a half from now. The Red Sox could come home conquering heroes, with Price leading the way.
“To kind of have the mayhem we’ve had around here and to still be above .500, that shows us how much talent we have,” Price said earlier this week, when his return was first announced.
Talent is not the question with this team, and it’s certainly not the question with Price. He had a 3.99 ERA last year, and that was his worst season since he was a rookie. He’s still just 31 years old, still has six-plus years on his contract, and still has a chance to be the guy who pushes the Red Sox over the top.
If Chris Sale keeps his earlyseason pace, Eduardo Rodriguez continues his breakout season, and Rick Porcello returns to form just a little bit, is there a better rotation in baseball? Not with a healthy and dominant Price, there’s not.
In that fancy blue suit and crisp white shirt, he certainly looked the part last night. But that won’t mean a thing this afternoon.
It’s time to get the uniform on, put this rotation back together, and see just how good this team can be when there are no more excuses.