Pedroia discovers change in Price's delivery that may turn his year around

Share

NEW YORK -- David Price thinks he may have found something to turn his season around. And he has an unlikely source to thank.

Teammate Dustin Pedroia was watching past video of himself against lefthanded pitchers and saw something in Price's motion that was different than what he saw of Price this season.

“I had a good talk with Pedey today and he showed me some stuff,” said Price, who was shelled for six runs in 4 2/3 innings Saturday afternoon, pushing his ERA to 6.75. “He told me, 'Man, something doesn't look right. It looks a little off.' He showed me a picture of myself inn 2012, 2013, 2014 and then what I've done so far this year. It's a simple fix and for myself not be able to feel that or pick up on that, that's the most frustrating thing. I'm very good at making adjustments on the fly and I didn't pick that up.

“I want my hands and right leg to be connected by a string. Whenever my knee goes up, I want my hands to go up; when my knee goes back down, I want my hands to go down. And my hands have stayed (waist high) and that's not allowing me to get my full leg lift. It's been about a half of a leg lift of what I've been used to. It takes away the rhythm of what I do out there on my mound. When my hands stay (lower), I have to time it up perfect to execute that pitch. There's no margin for error because I don't have that rhythm.”

In Price's mind, the mechanical flaw could explain his inability to locate precisely, and also account for the dip in his velocity. Rather than pitch at 94-95 mph with his fastball, Price has been around 91-92 mph.

“I'm not putting myself in a normal power position,” said Price, “so absolutely.”

Price described his current mechanics as “almost a slide step out of the windup. I'll fix that tomorrow (in a side session) and hopefully, Thursday, I'll be back to my normal self.”

Price said he appreciated Pedroia's input. In past seasons, Pedroia helped point out something in Mike Napoli's swing that, at least temporarily, brought him out of a slump.

“We're 25 pieces to a puzzle,” said Price. “Everybody has to do their job. I'm always talking to hitters. If they ask me something, I'm going to tell them what I think, how certain pitchers are going to pitch them...Everybody can help everybody in here. To have Pedey, it took two minutes. It's easy. I definitely appreciate and I'll make the (necessary) adjustments and get back out there.”

Contact Us