David Price is trolling us? I guess?
As long as the left-hander keeps pitching like he did on Tuesday night -- like he has for the last six weeks, really -- Red Sox fans won't care about his demeanor.
But his next start could be a doozy, and judging from his response after Tuesday's 9-1 victory over the Angels, he knows it.
Asked if he's looking forward to starting Sunday night's series finale against the Yankees in New York, Price basically spit on the question.
"I don't think I'll be able to go, so I don't think so," he said with a smirk.
"Fortnite?" came the followup.
"Yeah," Price said. "Fortnite."
Maybe he's nervous. Price has not pitched particularly well against the Yankees throughout his career (15-12, 4.67 in 38 starts), though he has been marginally better in New York (8-6, 4.27).
Since joining the Red Sox, however, Price is 2-5 with a ghastly 7.42 ERA in eight starts vs. the Bombers. He has allowed at least six runs in half of them, with his lone bright spot eight shutout innings in a 3-0 victory last July in the second game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park.
Otherwise, Price's efforts have resulted in a litany of failure, including a one-inning, four-run outing this April that played a direct role in Price's petulant response on Tuesday night. He left that one with numbness in his fingers, which he blamed on bad circulation exacerbated by a cold night.
He has since made numerous sarcastic, sneering references to how soft he is, clearly aware of the narrative that he begged out of that April start before skipping a May series between the teams with carpal tunnel. If he delivers another stinker on Sunday, he'll merely confirm the worst suspicions of his harshest critics.
Outside of a loss to the Indians in the 2016 playoffs, it's fair to say Sunday night marks the biggest start of Price's Red Sox career.
"That's too far down the road," said pitching coach Dana LeVangie when asked what he expects out of Price on Sunday. "We're going to see a guy that goes out there and wants to compete, give his team a chance to win. Every pitch matters to him, he's going to execute. Same guy. If it doesn't happen that day, we'll move on five days. That game's not going to end our season, so regardless, it's just another game."
Price feels fueled by defiance, perhaps because virtually everything he says has been used against him, the latest example being a joke about playing a lot of the popular videogame, Fortnite, to avoid pitching in the All-Star Game. From numbness to carpal tunnel to skipping the Yankees to Fortnite, Price acts like someone who has decided he can do no right, so he's just said bleep it.
It's enough to make you wonder if a solid season will convince him to ignore concerns over the long-term viability of his elbow and opt out of his contract this fall, leaving four years and $127 million on the table just for the opportunity to escape.
Even Price's most ardent supporters can probably agree that he made a mistake signing here. He doesn't seem to care much for the city or the fans, and his Red Sox career has lurched from one crisis to the next, virtually all of his own making, whether it's dressing down a reporter in the bowels of Yankee Stadium or screaming at Dennis Eckersley on a team plane or bombing in another playoff start or struggling with carpal tunnel and tingly hands before sarcastically deriding himself for being soft.
He has also, it should be noted, spent virtually his entire career in the rough-and-tumble American League East, and even if the Red Sox needed to give him 217 million reasons to stay, he still chose this life over somewhere quieter, like St. Louis.
"He loves the big stage, loves the competition," LeVangie said. "Sometimes, I'm not saying it's easier, but knowing the hitters helps. Where else would you want to be other than Boston, New York, or a big-market team? You want to win, right? Where else do you want to be?"
It feels like Price would rather be anywhere but here. On Sunday night, he can take another small step out the door with a big start against the rival that has effectively owned him since he came to Boston.
When it's over, we're going to want to stick around to hear what he has to say.
