David Price is pitching better. That was a trend that continued Monday with his five-inning, two-run outing against the Blue Jays.
The lefty has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last four starts, with the Red Sox winning each of the outings. It's a run which, of course, coincides with the diagnosis of his Carpal Tunnel Syndrome May 9.
But after the Red Sox' 8-3 win over Toronto, the takeaway from Price's postgame media availability had less to do with his the progress he is making on the mound than on the controversy involving his hand earlier in the month. It was a discussion that was surfaced in large part because a first-inning line-drive back at him, and a trip to the mound in the following frame by manager Alex Cora and head trainer Brad Pearson to check on the starter.
"For me whenever I see him playing with the baseball and kind of moving his fingers, my heart stops," Cora said. "I just wanted to make sure it was fine. I went out there and what he said he said it with a lot of conviction, so I had to step it up and let him finish what he had to do."
That led to how Price viewed the situation. His responses dripped in sarcasm.
The initial question regarding an injury this time came when asking about a line-drive Price took off the forearm in the first inning.
"You know me, I'm the softest guy in this clubhouse," Price said tongue-in-cheek. "If that bothered me, I would have been out of the game. I'm soft. It wasn't painful. I'm fine. If it was painful, I would have come out." He added, "I wasn't coming out of the game. I'd rather blow-out out there than come out. That's just where we're at."
Later on, when the subject of the previous "soft" comment came up again, Price surfaced the sarcasm once again.
"I'm soft, period. It's not a joke," he said. "I'm soft."
When then asked if he felt like he was being unfairly judged regarding the Carpal Tunnel condition, the pitcher responded, "No. I'm soft. It's cold can't pitch. My hands tingling can't do my job. That's it."
Veteran radio reporter Jonny Miller immediately lightened the line of questioning by asking if Price thought LeBron James was soft, to which the starter said, "LeBron's not soft. He's the king. I was pulling for the Celtics, let's let that be clear."
