Price Finally Finds Trouble

It took 12 starts in the minor leagues before someone finally slowed David Price down. After dominated two levels of the minors, his first start in the final step before Tampa was his first difficult one.

"Rays' Price Struggles in Triple-A Debut" is what MinorLeagueBaseball.com's front page said, but he really didn't struggle too bad at all. Everyone is just so used to him dominating that giving up 3 runs seems like a big deal. All they mention is him giving up 3 runs and 7 hits in his 4 innings of work, but they don't mention that he also struck out 6 batters.

Overall we all would have liked for him to pitch 7 shut out innings or something similar, but he got his feet wet and I'm sure he'll do much better in his next start. I don't expect him to have anymore than two more starts for Durham before he is called up to Tampa.

Price could be with Rays next month

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By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

SEATTLE -- Now that top prospect David Price has been moved up to Triple-A Durham, there's just one more step to take. And don't think the Rays aren't mulling over the prospect of having the talented left-hander on their Major League roster at some point during the final two months of the season.

"We have spoken about him in regard to him prior to September," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "We've had a lot of discussions, and we just want to do the right thing as we perceive them to be the right things. ... His performance to this point has been spectacular. Moving him up to Triple-A, we just wanted to see him get involved a little bit. We have several different scenarios that we've kind of created mentally. We'll see how it all plays out. We're prepared to do a couple of different things as we see fit."

Last season, the Yankees received a boost from Joba Chamberlain, who had been starting in the Minor Leagues, to assume a setup role down the stretch. Could such a scenario work with Price? Reporters asked Maddon that question Sunday.

"That's not impossible," Maddon said. "That's a possibility. We've discussed a variety of different ideas about him. We haven't talked specifically about it, but we've talked among ourselves, among Minor League staff members, front-office people, everybody's been included in the conversation."

The Rays announced Saturday night that Price had been promoted from Double-A Montgomery to Triple-A Durham. He was scheduled to travel Sunday in advance of making his first start for Durham against Norfolk on Wednesday.

Price went 7-0 with a 1.89 ERA in nine starts at Double-A Montgomery, pitching 57 innings for the Biscuits and walking just 16 while striking out 55. Prior to joining Montgomery, Price went 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA in six starts at Class A Vero Beach.

"We are very pleased with David's development," said Andrew Friedman, Rays executive vice president of baseball operations. "We felt like he was ready for a new challenge, and now he'll get a chance to face hitters with a lot of Major League experience. That will only help him as he continues his rapid ascent through the Minor Leagues."

Price, 22, was chosen by the Rays first overall in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.

Price Promoted to Triple-A Durham

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Rays' top prospect Price promoted

Young left-hander to make jump up to Triple-A Durham

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

SEATTLE -- David Price took another step closer to the Major Leagues on Saturday when he was promoted from Double-A Montgomery to Triple-A Durham.

The Rays' top prospect will travel Sunday in advance of making his first start for Durham against Norfolk on Wednesday.

Price went 7-0 with a 1.89 ERA in nine starts at Montgomery. The left-hander pitched 57 innings for the Biscuits and walked just 16 while striking out 55.

Prior to joining Montgomery, Price went 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA in six starts at Class A Vero Beach.

Price, 22, was chosen by the Rays first overall in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.

Another article from the St. Petersburg Times.

Young, Gifted and Black

There was an article in this past weeks Sports Illustrated that featured David Price. Here is just a very small portion of it, for the rest of the article go here.

IN JANUARY 2005, during his freshman year at Vanderbilt, David Price decided to drop out of school, quit baseball and work at McDonald's. He picked his preferred location, near his home in Murfreesboro, Tenn. He told his father, Bonnie, about his plan. Then he informed Vandy coach Tim Corbin of his intention in a tearful meeting in the Commodores' locker room. Sure, Price was a 6'6" lefthanded pitcher who could throw upward of 90 miles per hour and seven months earlier had been drafted in the 19th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers. But he had also just been shelled in a preseason intrasquad game, clearly a call to the Golden Arches. "It was definitely kind of out there," Corbin recalls, "but I couldn't laugh because he was so serious." ¶ Baseball has lost countless African-American athletes to basketball and the lure of the McDonald's All-American team, but not necessarily to McDonald's itself. Corbin needed an hour to convince Price that his future was in fastballs, not fast food. "He had to survive that moment to show he could survive as a pitcher," Corbin says. It was a crucial step, not only for Price but also for baseball in the black community. Today Price is the best African-American pitching prospect since Dwight Gooden, in an organization that has built around African-American players like no other current franchise.

Now 7-0 for Double-A Montgomery

David Price pitched 5 more innings of scoreless ball in his start last night against Birmingham. He struck out 7 and only allowed 4 hits, but also walked 4 batters. The talk amongst everyone at the moment is that it can't be much longer until he gets the call to Durham....or maybe even Tampa. I'll make sure and keep you updated on when that happens.

Improves to 6-0 in double-a.

Price was dominant yet again last night against West Tennessee. He got the win, and struck out 10 batters over 7 innings while only giving up one run on 4 hits. There hasn't been one batter reach base on balls in his previous 15 innings of work, which is remarkable for a power pitcher.

David also made the Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet this past week after his start at Huntsville. They mention the thought of having Price in the bullpen later this year, which is a very good possibility if Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson continue to pitch well. If one of them starts to struggle I wouldn't be surprised if the Rays bring up Price to be in the rotation.