NEW YORK -- This is no longer about Eck, Fortnite or passive-aggressive press conferences. Allergies and mild carpal tunnel syndrome? Not the issue.
David Price has a problem, and when digesting the here and now ($30 million a year), along with what might be (four more years), it would seem to be of more importance than any of these other nuisances.
He can't beat the Yankees in the Bronx (and really has a pretty hard time with them on the Fenway Park mound, as well).
Factor in the aforementioned issues, and what is now a 3.95 ERA as a member of the Red Sox, and the situation is no more easy to digest than when he first started the roller coaster just more than two years ago.
To be clear, this isn't the garden variety narrative that is nice to talk about for a few starts until an eventual good one rolls around. (That is more in line with those concerns about the postseason, which was where Price was at his absolute best as a member of the Red Sox last October.) No, this is very real, with no end in sight. And it should be very troubling for this current Sox team.
After the Red Sox' 11-1 loss to the Yankees, Red Sox manager Alex Cora was turning the page.
"Yeah, but I go by this year, man," Cora said when asked he was aware of Price's previous struggles in Yankee Stadium. "There's a lot of stuff that you can throw the numbers out. It's like Joe Kelly in the bullpen. Everybody thinks that he's not a good one and we feel that he can get lefties out. it's just a matter of executing pitches. He didn't do it today. He didn't do it the first time out, so it's a work in progress. He'll pitch again probably against them twice, we'll make adjustments, they're going to make adjustments and we do feel he can get those people out."
And David Price was intent on looking forward, not back.
"I've faced these guys a lot of times. I've been in this division for a long period of time," he said. "I've faced the Yankees many times. It's time for me to kind of go back to that drawing board and kind of reinvent myself against these guys."
But here is the reality: After his 3 1/3-inning, eight-run, five-home run horror show Sunday night at Yankee Stadium, Price carries a 10.44 ERA in five starts as a member of the Red Sox in the Bronx, having lost them all. In nine total starts with Boston pitching against the Yanks, his team is now 3-6 with the lefty managing one quality start. Those numbers are going to be really hard to dispose of.
When asked 1 1/2 weeks ago if he was going to adjust the rotation -- clearly with the subject of Price pitching in New York serving as the impetus for the question -- Cora quickly said that everything would remain the same, accompanying the message with a knowing smirk. Such a notion was perceived as more of a talker than a reality. When you have a pitcher who was pitching like Price, it didn't matter who, what and where he was staring down at.
Well, that sort of question still might be answered a bit different in September, and for good reason.
If things are this close in the days leading into those games at Yankee Stadium Sept. 18, 19 and 20 -- with an off day before the three-game set -- Price's presence has to be reconsidered. And if there is a postseason showdown, it has to be assumed that the Red Sox will be looking for another Game 2 starter.
For whatever reason, this is too much of sample size, and no longer a coincidence.
This is a big deal. We can't point to Chris Sale's historic dominance over the Yankees as one his most admirable calling cards and not place a similar weight on Price's problems. We can't look at the images of an ace in these moments on this stage -- like the ones provided by Sale and, before him, Jon Lester (now the proud owner of a three-run homer as of Sunday night) -- and just be content that Price is good a lot more than he is bad.
There have been others who have worn the Red Sox uniform and had their issues with the Yankees. Bruce Hurst and Josh Beckett had 5.54 and 5.53 ERAs, respectively, vs. New York, while Tim Wakefield also struggled (5.01). And even Pedro Martinez had a losing record against New York (9-10). This is different.
To repeat ... The Red Sox have lost every one of the five games Price has pitched at Yankee Stadium in a Red Sox uniform, with the home team claiming a .409 batting average in those meetings. That's four-oh-nine!
So, how will all of this shake out? Price will probably pitch pretty well the rest of the way, another meeting will arrive with the Yankees and he will get another chance. And that will remain one of the most uncomfortable aspects of what figures to be a pretty good pennant race.
"Just turn the page," Price said. "As unfortunate as it is, I've had starts like this in my career, I've had starts like this year. I can handle it. I moved on it from early on this year and I'll do the same this time."
