Off The David Price Bandwagon?

Unable to rag on the Boston Red Sox for their most recent performance, Shank throws us a changeup. He has shown a strange affinity for Red Sox pitcher David Price over the past three years. It appears the shine's been taken off of that show as of the past, um, couple of Fortnites!

NEW YORK — David Price gets the ball Sunday night in New York against the Yankees.

This should be good.

Assuming Price actually makes it to the mound, it’s the most pressure-packed regular-season start of Price’s tumultuous 2½-year stint in Boston. And he owes it all to himself. Price seems to enjoy putting a bull’s-eye on his own back — an odd trait for a guy who has demonstrated aversion to pressure-packed moments. For those who haven’t heard, the much-decorated, wildly-talented Price is 0-8 with a 5.74 ERA in nine postseason starts.

Skip forward to the most recent festivities:

Roll the tape back to April 11 when Price made his only start of the year against the Bombers. He took the ball on a 42-degree night at Fenway, gave up four runs in the first inning, then came out of the game due to numbness in his pitching hand. The Sox wound up losing, 10-7. Six days later, Price took his regular turn and beat the Angels.

Then came the first “big” series in New York and the beginning of Price’s 2018 foolishness (his 2017 follies crescendoed when he verbally ambushed Dennis Eckersley on a team charter, then refused to apologize). Price was slated to pitch the second game of the first trip to the Bronx in early May. The day before Price’s scheduled start, Alex Cora casually mentioned that Price had been sent back to Boston due to more numbness in his pitching hand.

A day later, Price was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and the Sox lost his start, 9-6. This was the day we learned that Price loves playing the online video game “Fortnite” even more than he hates Boston. After a 48-hour news cycle of speculation and medical opinion regarding the possibility that Price was hurting because of his video-game addiction, the pitcher agreed to stop playing “Fortnite” in the clubhouse.

The casual observer might ask the question - has Shank been sincere in the many previous columns where he praised / practically slobbered over price, or has this all been part of a more elaborate scheme, designed to take the mother of all craps on the goofy southpaw when the time is right?

In the 3½ fortnights since then, Price is 7-1 with a 2.72 ERA in nine starts. He gave up only three runs in the one loss. He has been dominant. He has been the pitcher the Sox thought they were buying back in the fall of 2015.

Coinciding with this success, Price has invented a sarcastic/martyr persona, perfectly demonstrating his searing hatred for the Boston Baseball Experience.

Like he needs more of a reason than 'Dan Shaughnessy' to justify that hatred.