News
Trials may end tribulation for Price
Former No. 1 pick has had his ups and downs in 2009
By Zach Schonbrun / MLB.com
09/10/09 11:52 AM ET
ST. PETERSBURG -- As David Price struggled through his first few starts with Tampa Bay this summer, there was an unusual ease with which he handled his obvious frustration. He maintained that he'd been through this before.For Price, disappointments are as unfamiliar as they are unwelcome. So when he scuffled early on this year, trolling through high-pitch counts and a high ERA, the 24-year-old left-hander took solace looking backward, to a seminal moment in his young pitching career.
It's been three years since Price was a sophomore at Vanderbilt, the first time he faced his own pitching mortality. Yet there have been many parallels to what Price has experienced in his rookie season in the Major Leagues -- an up-and-down, unexpected struggle for consistency which Price considers "part of it."
Just what "it" may evolve into for Price -- the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, the league's most highly touted pitching prospect and the postseason sensation from a year ago -- is a salivating possibility for Tampa Bay's organization. Already, as the one-year anniversary of Price's Major League debut at Yankee Stadium approaches, he has built a hefty resume.
"The talent is evident, it's obvious," Rays first baseman Carlos Pena said. "And few would dispute that."
Price struck out 11 in 5 2/3 innings against Minnesota to earn his first career win, and six times already this season, he's allowed three or fewer hits. Against Boston on Sept. 3, he blew a fastball straight through the webbing of catcher Gregg Zaun's mitt.
"Folklore," Zaun said.
But Price's rookie season as a starter has tested his mettle. After all the other successes, it has been infinitely more humbling. He has had to deal with accolades, hype and high expectations, only to watch the tide of his fame recede quickly back to normalcy.
| "At the time, it was terrible, it wasn't any fun. But it probably made me who I am right now. I had never struggled in my life." |
| -- David Price |
It's been admittedly tough for Price, by far his own harshest critic. Nothing seems good enough to please him, even as he has appeared to turn the corner in the past few starts, pitching well against New York, Boston, Detroit and Texas.
Speaking before his outing against the Yankees on Wednesday, though, Price was succinct in his assessment of his season.
"Not very good," Price said. "Very inconsistent."
He's 7-7 with a 4.87 ERA in 19 outings this year. But through his first eight starts, Price was 2-3 with a 5.22 ERA. He had 30 walks in 38 innings. Most of all, the confidence and presence he possessed when pitching in relief in the playoffs had disappeared.
Price himself grew more and more frustrated that results were not coming as he expected. After what he did in the American League Championship Series and World Series, fans anticipated Price to be an instant hit in Tampa Bay's rotation this season. Part of him expected similar success.
"You're talking about a kid who went into the playoffs and was on the bottom of the pile when they beat Boston to go to the World Series," Vanderbilt baseball head coach Tim Corbin said. "A kid who probably went into Spring Training with the expectations that he was going to make that team. He didn't make that team; there probably was a little disappointment. It wasn't like he took a step back, but he may have gotten nicked up a little bit."
As he weaved through the experiences this year, Price began using one past moment in his career as a crutch. It was his sophomore season at Vanderbilt -- a year he considers his most difficult and most influential.
Price began that season almost indomitable. But after a bad start against Georgia in mid-April, Corbin said he thought Price began to unravel. Corbin moved him down to the No. 2 role -- a move he said he made to "protect" his young prospect.
But Price didn't handle his struggles well and his season took a tailspin, culminating after he allowed nine runs in 3 1/3 innings against Tennessee in early May. It was his first taste of disappointment on the mound.
"When he failed that particular year, I just think it caught him a little bit off guard," Corbin said.
His struggle in 2006 has its comparability to what Price has had to deal with this season, and he's kept that close in mind. When Price faltered through his first dozen starts this year, his perspective was shaped by what he went through at Vanderbilt.
"At the time, it was terrible, it wasn't any fun," Price said. "But it probably made me who I am right now. I had never struggled in my life."
| "You learn a lot more struggling than you do having instant success. The struggles and the up and down is going to serve him well in the future. I think he understands where he's short and he's going to make those adjustments and make the strides to be a better pitcher. He's got everything he needs." |
| -- Gregg Zaun |
It was over that summer, when Price played under Corbin for USA Baseball's National Team, that things clicked back into place for Price. Corbin called it a turning point for him. Though he can't pinpoint exactly what changed for Price, he said it had nothing to do with his talent.
"His stuff never changed," Corbin said. "I think it was just the ability to repeat good performances one after the other, and say, 'OK, here I am again.' I think when you're young like he was, you have a tendency to compound things in your mind and make you think they're worse than what they are."
The analysis shares similarities with Rays skipper Joe Maddon's sentiments, which has been that Price has needed to be patient as he works his way through this season. And for the most part, he has.
In Price's past five starts, his ERA is 3.52 with only 11 total walks. The command and presence that had defined him in October has gradually reemerged for Price on the mound.
"He's adapting to becoming a Major League starter," Maddon said. "The fact he's able to throw his fastball for a strike when he wants to is probably the most dramatic improvement I've seen. That may not sound like much to a lot of folks, but I think it's huge."
Price's burden is that he'll never be graded along the same scale as other contemporaries. His teammates, however, recognize how he's been able to carry those expectations and find ways to improve as the season's gone along.
"He's had to deal with all the hype, people putting a lot on his shoulders and stuff like that," said Rays starter Jeff Niemann, whose 12-5 record this season puts him in contention for the AL Rookie of the Year Award. "He's done a great job with that. It's been a learning experience for all of us young guys. You can see he's definitely turned the corner."
"You learn a lot more struggling than you do having instant success," Zaun said. "The struggles and the up and down is going to serve him well in the future. I think he understands where he's short, and he's going to make those adjustments and make the strides to be a better pitcher. He's got everything he needs."
Price still hasn't seen the video from Game 7 of the ALCS in 2008. He's only caught brief highlights of the celebratory pile on the mound -- the moment that put him on the baseball map and changed his perception forever. There's no reason for him to look back now.
It's been a far more challenging rookie season than the Price in that video tape would've imagined. But evaluating how he's carried himself through the year can't necessarily be measured next to what he did a year ago.
"He's an astute character," Corbin said. "This kid understands pitching. It may take him a year or so to get beaten up here or there. But he's going to pick something up. He'll be the last one laughing."
When Price took the mound against the Yankees on Wednesday, almost exactly a year after he made his debut against them, it was in a different stadium, a different time and a different situation. For all intents and purposes, Price was a different pitcher, too.
Just how different Price will be a year from now depends on how much he learned from his struggles this season. If he finds himself battling again, he knows exactly where to turn for guidance.
"I've been through that struggle and moved on. It's going to help me for the rest of my career," Price said. "I've been there before. I know that I can get through it."
Zach Schonbrun is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
