Baseball Daily Dose: Daily Dose: Worth the Price
On the NBC sitcom Community, a show I don’t reference nearly enough in this column, one of the more famous episodes involves the use of alternate timelines. Within the timelines are alternate versions of each character including, for those of you familiar with the show, Evil Troy and Evil Abed.
Which leads us to David Price. We’ve seen every version of David Price this year. But the version that took the mound Sunday against the Rays was the one Red Sox fans have been waiting to see all season. The left-hander overwhelmed his ex-mates, silencing the team that drafted him to the tune of 10 strikeouts over eight shutout frames. The Red Sox have now won four straight, their longest winning streak since late May.
If you’re going to spend $217 million on a starting pitcher, you want him to be a sure thing. Price has been anything but that. He started the year by posting a pitiful 6.75 ERA over his first seven starts, albeit with a 4-1 record. Price then rebounded after fixing a flaw in his mechanics (at the suggestion of teammate Dustin Pedroia), going 4-3 with a 2.47 ERA over his next seven starts. He hit another rough patch in Texas (2 1/3 IP, 12 H, 6 ER) before ending the first half with back-to-back eight-inning gems. It wasn’t what the Red Sox paid for, but it’s what they got.
Maybe there’s reason for optimism, though. Price has been gobbling up strikeouts all year (10.13 K/9) and if you take away his blowup against Texas, he actually holds a steady 2.58 ERA since May 12. That’s a lot closer to the Price we saw last season in Detroit and Toronto (2.45 ERA over 220 1/3 innings). Price has historically been a better pitcher in the second half (3.03 ERA compared to 3.35 before the All-Star break) so maybe the best is yet to come.
Of course, facing the listless Rays is always a nice confidence booster. The Rays have now dropped 22 of their last 25 games while falling deep into the AL East basement. Injuries have hit Tampa Bay like a ton of bricks. Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Guyer, Steven Souza, Alex Colome, Brad Boxberger and Steve Pearce have all missed time in the last month as the Rays have conceded playing time to spare parts like Desmond Jennings and Taylor Motter.
Even the starting pitching, which is usually the Rays’ bread and butter, has been a disappointment. Chris Archer and Drew Smyly have regressed significantly while Matt Moore hasn’t looked the same since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Tampa Bay has always done more with less but this year that approach hasn’t paid off. The Rays have the league’s third-lowest payroll and they’re playing like it.
Tampa Bay did the Red Sox a huge favor by taking the weekend off and it’s possible the Rays aren’t through helping Boston. The Red Sox solidified their bullpen this weekend by acquiring Brad Ziegler from Arizona but Boston is still in desperate need of starting pitching. Jake Odorizzi is reportedly on their radar and the Red Sox got a good look at him Sunday at Fenway (5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER). Odorizzi’s numbers aren’t great (3-5, 4.47 ERA) but he turned in a respectable 3.35 ERA last season and is under team control through 2019, which means he wouldn’t be a drain on Boston’s payroll.
Boston’s robust farm system has lost some of its firepower in recent trades for Craig Kimbrel and Aaron Hill, but the Red Sox still have some enticing talent, particularly in the lower minor leagues. The two sides could probably hammer out a deal but obviously it isn’t that simple. The Rays would surely prefer to trade outside of their division and the Rangers have expressed interest in Odorizzi as well.
The Red Sox have also been linked to Jeremy Hellickson and Rich Hill, so they seem to be casting a fairly wide net. The trade deadline is August 1 but there’s some incentive for the Red Sox to add an arm before July 23. That’s the first time they would need a fifth starter after the All-Star break. That role currently belongs to Clay Buchholz, who the Red Sox would like to avoid using at all costs. Expect team president Dave Dombrowski to make plenty of calls this week.
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Reddick Drawing Interest
It’s July, which means we’re only a few weeks away from the A’s annual exodus. Every year it seems the small-market A’s dangle their best players as trade bait. 2016 is shaping up to be no different.
Interest in left-hander Rich Hill has been well documented. The Blue Jays, Marlins, Orioles, Red Sox and Royals have all checked in and others should emerge as the deadline looms closer. Meanwhile, a market is also developing for right fielder Josh Reddick. Like Hill, Reddick is in the last year of his contract. The A’s extended an olive branch to Reddick by offering him a three-year, $36 million extension this offseason. Reddick countered with a four-year, $56 million proposal, which was met by crickets. Reddick could probably earn $5-10 million more than that on the open market, so the counter-offer represents a significant hometown discount. Unfortunately for Reddick, it doesn’t look like Oakland is willing to offer four years, which means this could very well be his final month in an A’s uniform.
Reddick got off to a sizzling start this year (.322 in his first 146 at-bats) but lost some of his momentum after suffering a broken thumb in May. He returned to action a month later but has hit just .205 since with two RBI in 43 at-bats. Reddick has a pair of 20-homer seasons on his resume including last year when he belted 20 jacks while contributing 77 RBI and 10 steals. The 29-year-old has done most of his damage against right-handers this year, batting .338 against them compared to only .167 versus lefties.
Despite his flaws, Reddick has had no trouble attracting suitors. The Blue Jays, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Nationals and Royals are a few of the many teams that have shown interest. With Oakland sitting 15 1/2 games back of Texas in the AL West, look for GM Billy Beane to jump-start the rebuilding process with a flurry of deadline deals.
AL Quick Hits: Jose Bautista (turf toe) has been hitting off a tee at the Blue Jays’ spring training facility in Dunedin. Florida. The Jays are hoping to have him back by the end of the month … Edwin Encarnacion dropped his appeal and served his one-game suspension Sunday against Detroit. Encarnacion was suspended for making contact with home plate umpire Vic Carapazza during an argument last week … Danny Salazar has been ruled out for the All-Star Game because of elbow soreness. His roster spot will go to White Sox lefty Jose Quintana, who is making his first appearance in the Mid-Summer Classic … Michael Brantley will head to Short-Season Mahoning Valley Monday to begin a rehab assignment. He’s been sidelined the past two months with shoulder and biceps injuries … Eduardo Rodriguez will return to Boston’s starting rotation Friday against the Yankees. E-Rod gathered a disappointing 8.59 ERA in six starts before his demotion last month … Red Sox 2B prospect Yoan Moncada took home MVP honors in Sunday night’s Futures Game at Petco Park. The 21-year-old blasted a two-run homer during a seven-run eighth inning as the World team captured an 11-3 win over the United States … Hanley Ramirez was absent for the second straight game Sunday against the Rays. He’s been out with a bruised shin … Tigers Triple-A outfielder Anthony Gose was a no-show Sunday a day after getting into a heated argument with manager Lloyd McClendon. Gose began the year in Detroit but was optioned to Toledo in May.
NL Quick Hits: Madison Bumgarner came within five outs of a no-hitter Sunday against the Diamondbacks. The left-hander improved his record to 10-4 while matching a career-high with 14 strikeouts … How has the Jose Reyes addition been working out for the Mets? So far, so good. The 33-year-old mashed two homers Sunday, giving him three in his last four games. He’s been filling in for David Wright (neck) at third base … Daniel Murphy has been tormenting the Mets all year. That trend continued Sunday when he homered for the third time in four games. Seven of Murphy’s career-high 17 homers have come against his former team … Kenta Maeda ended the first half in style, fanning a career-high 13 batters Sunday in a win over the Padres. His 2.95 ERA is 12th-lowest in the National League … Hunter Pence, who is no good at parallel parking, has been running at about 80 percent and could begin a rehab assignment within a week. He underwent surgery to repair a torn hamstring in early June … Ryan Vogelsong scattered six hits and three runs over five innings Sunday in his first rehab start for Double-A Altoona. The right-hander took a pitch off his face two months ago and suffered multiple facial fractures … Clayton Kershaw (back) threw a bullpen session on Sunday. It’s possible he could join the Dodgers for his second turn after the All-Star break … Yoenis Cespedes missed Sunday’s action with a strained quad. He’ll also sit out Tuesday’s All-Star Game in San Diego. Pittsburgh outfielder Starling Marte will take his spot on the NL roster … Carlos Gonzalez launched a 475-foot missile against the Phillies on Sunday. The solo home run off Hector Neris was the longest of his career … Trevor Rosenthal will avoid the disabled list after an MRI on his injured hamstring revealed no structural damage. The Cardinals right-hander was removed from the closer role last month.
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