Price says Pedroia helped fix flaw in his delivery

David Price isn't mincing words when it comes to the prolonged struggle to open his Boston Red Sox career.

"I've been the weakest link. That's unacceptable," Price told reporters Sunday, just one day after bluntly stating he's "sucked" since joining the Red Sox.

However, reason for hope that the former Cy Young winner will turn things around may have finally emerged, thanks to teammate Dustin Pedroia. The second baseman noticed a small mechanical flaw in Price's delivery relating to his leg kick, and presented the lefty with the evidence. Price was immediately kicking himself for not noticing what he says is a simple error.

"It's something that I always say: I want my hands and my right leg or my right knee to be connected by a string," Price said. "Whenever my knee goes up, I want my hands to go up. Whenever my knee goes back down, I want my hands to go back down.

"That’s not allowing me to get my full leg lift ... and it takes away the rhythm of what I do out there on the mound. And whenever my hands stay (down) I have to be able to time it up perfect for me to be able to execute that pitch. It gives me no margin of error, because I don’t have that rhythm."

Now that he's detected the issue, the 30-year-old is fully convinced a quick bullpen session will fix it all up and allow the real David Price to emerge as the Red Sox ace, starting on Thursday against the Astros.

"I'll fix that tomorrow and hopefully Thursday I'll go out there and I'll be back to my normal self," he said.

Meanwhile, Pedroia politely declined to take any credit for his role.

"That's what good teammates do," he said.