Boston Red Sox shut down David Price for season

The Boston Red Sox announced they have shut down star starting pitcher David Price for the rest of the season.

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced they are shutting down starter David Price for the rest of the season.  The thinking in this process is that by shutting him down now, they can get a jump-start on getting him ready for next season.

ERA-wise Price had arguably the second worst season of his 12-year MLB career.  He finished this year with a 7-5 record with 4.28 ERA, 128 strikeouts and 32 walks in 22 starts.

With the Red Sox having already shut down fellow starter Chris Sale and being 10 games out of the Wild Card chase, the season is over for the defending World Series champs.

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I can’t remember the last time a team with such high expectations after winning a World Series just fell flat on its collective face.  Naturally you might think it had something to do with injuries to key players, but they were healthy for the majority of the year.

Unlike the New York Yankees, who were bitten by the injury bug more than any team has been in the history of baseball, they were unable to overcome regressions.  The biggest spotlight has to be the starting rotation.  Sale and Price were very underwhelming.

Last year Price went 16-7 with a 3.58 ERA, 177 strikeouts in 30 starts.  That is a huge jump in ERA and at 33 it might be the beginning of the end for Price.  Now don’t get me wrong he could always reinvent himself like John Smoltz did, but he is going to have to figure something out quick.

He is signed through the end of 2022, but the Red Sox will look to make drastic changes to their rotation this offseason and a trade may be in the future for the former Cy Young award winner.

I personally am rooting for Price, but unless he can figure out a way to fix his game and return to his dominant form, he may just find his way out of Fenway.