Red Sox: David Price deserves comeback player award

BOSTON - APRIL 11: Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price reacts during a four-run first inning for the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on April 11, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - APRIL 11: Boston Red Sox starting pitcher David Price reacts during a four-run first inning for the Yankees. The Boston Red Sox host the New York Yankees in a regular season MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on April 11, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The Red Sox have been great all season, and one of the players who helped with their success could win the comeback player award.

I’m talking about none other than David Price. He didn’t have one of his great years like he did with the Rays, but he definitely had some incredible stretches with the Boston Red Sox.

While his 2018 ERA was higher than what he had posted in 2017, most of his stats were better and he was able to play in a lot more games. Last season he only started 11 games and failed to pitch 75 innings. It was the first time he pitched fewer than 140 innings since 2009.

In 2018, he was able to pitch the complete season, throwing 176 innings over 30 starts. His ERA stood at 3.58. He also posted a 1.142 WHIP, which was his lowest with the Red Sox.

Most of his success was thanks in part to a few great stretches he had late in the season. He went roughly half the season with an ERA over 4 but trimmed it down nicely.

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His streak began during his final start before the all-star break against the Blue Jays where he gave up three runs over 6.2 innings. That was the first of 10 straight starts of three or fewer runs. This stretch included two outings of eight innings and two outings with at least 10 strikeouts.

Entering August, the most strikeouts he had in a game this season was nine. His first 10 strikeout outing was on August 11 against the Orioles, but his last 10 strikeout outing before that was way back on July 10, 2016 against the Rays.

You can talk about his ERA and his ability to stay healthy as a good basis for winning the award, but his strikeouts are one of the better factors here. During his first eight starts of the season he failed to strikeout more than six batters but during the second half of the season, he was striking out eight or more batters often.

His competition won’t be easy to overtake though. Edwin Jackson and Michael Brantley both had great seasons as well, but between all of them, Price is the only one of them who really looks like they turned a corner and can continue to be successful in the future.

He’s still relatively young and has plenty of time left on his contract. The momentum he’s having in the second half could lead to an even better 2019 campaign.