Pedro offers advice to Price about correcting down year
When the Boston Red Sox dished out $217 million for David Price, the club presumably expected to get a staff ace to anchor a rotation in need of a top-caliber pitcher.
So far this season, Price hasn't lived up to expectations, struggling at times en route to a 4.51 ERA, the worst of his career.
Price's pains have been felt by special assistant to the general manager and former Red Sox great Pedro Martinez, who offered the pitcher some friendly advice on how to turn things around Tuesday.
"I would just say, as a human being, I would say (he) has to make adjustments,'' Martinez told Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. "It's the first year on a team that holds a lot of expectations. For David, it's just a matter of probably understanding how he feels comfortable around the things that he does, what David Price needs for David Price to feel more comfortable and make the adjustment as quick as possible.
"I believe he's capable of it. He's given a lot of signs that he's the ace we all expect. And, to be honest, I think he's going to be alright. It's just a matter of making the adjustment as quickly as possible.''
Although he's shown flashes of the dominant pitcher of old - including an eight-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 10 - Price has been inconsistent most of the season. Martinez believes he just needs to trust himself, and in doing so, the results will follow.
"I don't see anything wrong,'' Martinez said when asked about Price's performance. "His velocity is there. He can last eight, nine innings, easily. He's in great shape. He looks good overall, except some games just don't go his way and sometimes it doesn't look like everything (works) for him. But I believe he just has to trust what he is, the presence he has and his knowledge.
"It's up to you sometimes to say, 'Hey I know this. I know this situation, so I'm just going to go approach it.' And that's probably what he needs to do - is just trust who he is, what he knows, and the stuff he has.''
Price owns a 9-7 record to go along with career highs in opponent's batting average (.272), WHIP (1.28), and hits per nine innings (9.5).