David Price was the first overall pick in the 2007 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He made his major league debut on September 14, 2008, against the Yankees. Since then, Price has earned 150 wins and he’s a five-time all-star. Also, he threw 1981 strikeouts. If baseball does return in 2020, it’s highly possible that Price will reach the 2000-strikeout milestone.
David Price mainly relied on 4-seamer, changeup and sinker in 2019. However, during his career, he has changed his pitch mix several times to utilize his weapons.
In the first 3 seasons, Price heavily relied on his 4-seamer. Nonetheless, we also see that he gradually used his sinker more frequently. In 2008, Price didn’t throw many sinkers, only 14.2%, however, the number jumped to 41.8% in 2011.
Price not only threw more sinkers but also threw sinkers faster. In 2012, his average sinker velocity reached 96mph and batters really had no ideas on dealing with it, hitting only .230 against Price’s sinker. Price got 20 wins that season, and had an ERA only 2.56. He became the first Rays’ pitcher to win 20-games and the Cy Young award. However, Price’s sinker velocity and 4-seamer velocity dropped gradually after the 2012 season, decreasing to 91.9mph in the 2019 season. Meanwhile, injuries also cause some problems. In particular, Price suffered left elbow strain in 2017. He missed most of the 2017 season, pitching only 74.2 innings.
The Red Sox won the World Series champion in 2018. Price started game 2 and game 5 and earned 2 wins in that series. His dominant performance helped the Red Sox clinch. Price did bounce back in 2018, he started 30 games with a 16-7 record, 3.58 ERA, and 177 strikeouts in 176 innings.
Because of elbow injury, Price made some adjustments on his pitching mechanics. Looking at statcast data, it showed that Price’s release point was lower in 2018. The mechanics adjusted truly worked and Price had a great season in 2018.
Vertical Release Point (ft.)
Horizontal Release Point (ft.)
Unfortunately, elbow and wrist injuries cause some troubles for Price again in 2019. As we can see, his release points in 2019 were slightly lower than his release points in 2018.
Being a pitcher in the Major League is not easy. David Price, who is a great pitcher without doubt, faced some problems as other pitchers such as injuries and a drop in fastball velocity. Meanwhile, he did some adjustments as other pitchers did and Price’s adjustments went successful to help him bounce back in 2018. The 2019 season didn’t go well for Price and he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020. David Price pitched 2 games for the Dodgers in the spring training. His second outing in the spring training was really good. It seemed that he made good adjustments again. However, we can do nothing but wait till baseball is back to see whether Price can consistently pitch well. Also, it’s important to have more information to learn if there are any changes in Price’s release points and pitch velocity.
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