Will David Price prove to be a difference-maker in the 2020 Major League Baseball season?
MLB.com’s Richard Justice counts the Boston Red Sox pitcher among nine players who “could change everything” this season. Justice highlighted players who can help contenders realize their dreams of reaching, and perhaps ruling, the MLB playoffs, and Price might fit that bill if he recovers the form he demonstrated in late 2018 and early last season.
“Injuries derailed his 2019 season (as they did in ’17), and that’s an obvious concern,” Justice wrote Thursday. “Actually, the only concern. Price was excellent last season before an August wrist injury (3.24 ERA in 16 first-half starts), and his ’18 postseason showed he’s still capable of pitching like an ace. The wild card here is that he might end up being the X factor for a team other than the Red Sox if any of these trade rumors come to fruition. And whether Price is doing it for the Padres, Dodgers or Red Sox in ’20, he can be a difference maker.”
Price is coming of season in which he posted a 7-5 record, with a 4.28 ERA and 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings across 107 1/3 innings. Red Sox fans are hoping he’ll bounce back and reform a devastating tandem at the front of Boston’s rotation, alongside Chris Sale.
Price, 34, hasn’t been focusing on the trade rumors this offseason. Instead he has been working hard in an effort to make his fifth season in Boston his best yet, and the Red Sox are positioned to reap the rewards Justice outlines.
