Veteran Price ready to contribute to rotation after 2020 opt-out
LOS ANGELES — When David Price makes his first regular-season start for the Dodgers in early April, the left-hander will be working on 19 months — or about 580 days — of rest, his last appearance a two-inning stint for the Boston Red Sox in Angel Stadium on Sept. 1, 2019.
Though the lengthy layoff should provide ample physical benefits for a 35-yearold who has thrown 2,029 ⅔ innings and had season-ending wrist surgery in 2019, regaining the precision and command required to face big league hitters could be a challenge.
“To me, that’s what you use spring training for,” Price said by video call from Camelback Ranch in Phoenix on Friday. “You really can’t really simulate that game action until you get out there.
“Even when I’m playing year to year, those first couple of spring outings, they always feel brand new. You’re out there feeling for things that make you tick, so that’s what I’ll be doing. Everything feels really good right now.”
Price was the financial component that made the early 2020 blockbuster trade of star outfielder Mookie Betts from Boston to Los Angeles work, the Dodgers assuming half of what remained on Price’s sevenyear, $217 million contract as part of the agreement. He’s under contract through 2022, with the Dodgers paying $32 million of the $64 million due him.
Price spent a month in spring training with the Dodgers when baseball was shut down because of the corona virus last March. When the sport resumed in July, Price, who is married with two young children, decided it was “in the best interest of my health and my family’s health” to opt out of the 2020 season.
“That was the toughest decision I’ve ever had to make,” said Price, who won the 2012 American League Cy Young Award with Tampa Bay. “When opening day rolled around, it was even tougher. Then the playoffs rolled around, and that took it a step further.”
Price spent most of pandemic-shortened60-game season as well as the postseason — which culminated with the Dodgers winning their first World Series championshipsince 1988— in front of his television.
“I didn’t miss any games,” Price said. “I was tuned into all of them, 60-plus however many we played in the playoffs.”
His baseball viewing wasn’t limited to the Dodgers.
“This was my first year on the West Coast, and baseball starts at 9 or 10 a.m.,” Price said. “I had baseball on all day long. I watched a lot of East Coast games, and later the West Coast games. . It’s the most baseball I’ve ever watched on TV.”
During breaks in the action, Price sent text messages to Dodgers players and former teammates, providing encouragement or praise for a great at-bat or nice defensive play.
“I was in constant contact with guys — I tried to keep things normal in that sense,” Price said. “I didn’t just separate myself from the game and my teammates. I wanted to be a part of it as much as I could.”