Price not right: Lefty has forearm, elbow soreness
Boston Red Sox left- hander David Price was scratched from his first spring- training start and will consult with specialists after experiencing soreness in his left forearm and elbow.
Price, who was scheduled to make his first spring start this weekend, had an MRI exam Wednesday, but results weren’t available yet. Still, he is expected to seek second opinions from Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neil ElAttrache, who are at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. He likely will travel to Indianapolis for consultations.
Manager John Farrell said Price threw 38 pitches in a two- inning simulated game Tuesday and felt no discomfort. He first noticed the soreness Wednesday.
‘‘ He’s gone through some soreness in the forearm/ elbow area in previous spring trainings, but this one has got a little bit more intensity to it,’’ Farrell said.
Price was 17- 9 with a 3.99 ERA last season, his first with the Red Sox. He signed a seven- year, $ 210 million contract with the Red Sox in December 2015.
Pitchless intentional walks begin
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association announced their agreement on pitchless intentional walks, and the change took effect with exhibition games Thursday. If a manager signals the plate umpire for an intentional walk, the umpire will tell the batter to take first base.
Commissioner Rob Manfred had hoped for more radical pace- ofgame changes, but the union didn’t agree to raising the bottom of the strike zone, pitch clocks or limits on trips to the mound. MLB can make unilateral changes to playing rules only after giving the union one year of advance notice.
Also, video- review regulations were changed to establish a 30- second limit for a manager to make a challenge and a conditional two- minute guideline for the replay umpire to make a decision.
Jays hopeful about 2B Travis
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said he hopes second baseman Devon Travis will be ready for the start of the season, but he can’t guarantee it.
Travis, who hit .300 with 11 home runs and 50 RBI in 101 games last season, has been slowed by a bone bruise in his right knee — the same knee on which he had offseason surgery to remove a small flap of cartilage.
Travis played in only three of the Blue Jays’ nine playoff games last season because of the injury.
McDowell gets coaching job
Former White Sox ace Jack McDowell has been hired to coach a start- up baseball team at Queens University, a Division II school in Charlotte, North Carolina.
McDowell, 51, compiled a 91- 58 record in seven seasons with the Sox ( 1987- 94) and won the American League Cy Young Award in 1993. Overall, he was 127- 87 with a 3.85 ERA in 12 seasons.