No surgery for Price; Strasburg avoids windup
After David Price consulted two renowned orthopedic doctors, the Boston Red Sox said Friday the star pitcher will not need surgery or an injection in his ailing left arm.
Price traveled to Indianapolis on Thursday for a consultation with Drs. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who were at the NFL Combine. Price is expected to return Saturday to Boston’s spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida.
“Indy is a little chilly right now so I’m gonna head back to fort myers! My 40 time was 4.11,” Price tweeted Friday.
Manager John Farrell said the findings represented a best-case scenario for Price, who will rest and receive treatment for the next seven to 10 days. It is uncertain when the left-hander will resume throwing.
Strasburg’s first outing — Stephen Strasburg avoided a windup for all 23 of his pitches in a 2-1, 10-inning loss by a Washington Nationals split squad to the St. Louis Cardinals, his first appearance of spring training.
“I’m not trying to reinvent myself, but just trying to simplify things as much as I can and be able to repeat my mechanics,” Strasburg said. “I feel like as I’ve gotten older, for whatever reason, the windup’s just been an issue as far as getting that right feeling of staying on the mound, not drifting too much toward first- or thirdbase side on my leg kick, and sticking the landing a little bit better.”
Strasburg came up with the idea after watching Texas’ Yu Darvish and Cleveland’s Carlos Carrasco. He approached pitching coach Mike Maddux about it at the start of spring training.
• Athletics 6, Giants 1 — Yonder Alonso and Ryon Healy homered, and Oakland starter Kendall Graveman pitched two scoreless innings.
Giants starter Jeff Samardzija allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings, striking out three.
San Francisco ace Johnny Cueto was finally scheduled to arrive in camp Friday night, but the Dominican right-hander probably won’t pitch in the World Baseball Classic — at least in the first round.
Cueto’s father has been ill, so the pitcher wanted to bring him to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic. That delayed his arrival by a couple of weeks so that a visa could be obtained for his dad.
Cueto has been working out at the Giants’ facility in the Dominican Republic, so the late arrival is not expected to affect anything relating to the pitcher’s normal preparation for the season.