In the midst of one of his best runs with the Boston Red Sox, David Price might be pitching his way into the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Price is 6-0 with a 2.64 ERA in his last seven starts, a stretch that leaves with him 8-4 with a 3.76 ERA for the season — borderline All-Star numbers. But if Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch selects the left-hander, expect Price to do all he can to avoid pitching in the game.
“I feel like if he did, it would just be to get me to throw an extra inning,” Price jokingly told the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato on Tuesday. “And that would be a pretty pro move on his part. I’ll come up with something, if I am an All-Star, so I won’t have to pitch.
“I’ll play a lot of ‘Fortnite’ the night before, so I’ll be down (unavailable).”
Price, of course. revealed in May that he and his teammates play tons of “Fortnite,” the battle royale video game that’s taken the world by storm.
Whether Hinch actually would pitch Price with the goal of wearing out one of his American League rivals’ best pitchers is up for debate. Price, however, believes other Red Sox pitchers are far more deserving of All-Star nods than he is.
“Chris Sale,” Price said, when asked which Red Sox players he voted for. “I ain’t going. I’m not an All-Star. Craig Kimbrel is gonna get his, I didn’t vote for Craig because he’s Craig Kimbrel, he’s going to get his votes. I voted for Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes.
“Actually I did vote for Craig. Joe, Barnes and Craig. Craig doesn’t need votes. His name is going to get him in.”
It would be somewhat surprising to see middle-relievers, such as Kelly and Barnes, to make the All-Star team, but Kimbrel, still one of the best closers in the game, likely is a shoe-in.
We’ll have to wait until All-Star rosters are announced to learn which Sox pitchers made the cut. However, recent All-Star voting updates bode well for some of Boston’s positional players, especially Mookie Betts.
