Price could miss 1st month of season as Red Sox proceed cautiously

Opening Day is two weeks away but the Boston Red Sox feel no urgency in rushing David Price back to the mound.

"I think he'll be fine based upon what the doctors have told me, what David feels," Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told Evan Drellich of CSN New England. "We got to take our time. You don't ever want to rush that. I'm sure that we could have pushed him a little bit further at this point even quicker. I think he'll be fine. And I think that he'll be a good pitcher."

Price has yet to make a start this spring and hasn't thrown from a mound since feeling discomfort in his left elbow and forearm during a throwing session Feb. 17.

The Red Sox remain without a timeline for Price's return. The left-hander is expected to begin the year on the disabled list and it appears more and more likely that he'll miss most, if not all, of April as the club continues to be cautious.

"There's going to be a recheck (Tuesday)," manager John Farrell told Drellich. "So based on that, on how he feels, what the next phase will become and when that initiates more throwing with some intensity, I don't have that start date.

"I don't want to say he gets full clearance to begin a mound progression at that point. It's more about just evaluating his strength, where he is now compared to where it was when he came into camp, where it was at the time of the incident. I know it's not a clear cut answer for you, but that's what I have right now."

Price led the league in innings pitched last season and has averaged 218 innings over the last seven years.