FORT MYERS, Fla. — A day after Chris Sale threw against live hitters for the first time this spring, David Price got his shot in a simulated game against minor leaguers on Monday. Though Price only threw 39 pitches, versus Sale’s 52, spanning over three innings. He, too, had a cap on pitches, throwing 15 in the first and 12 in each of the final two frames.
Price faced 13 batters, allowing four hits and a run. He struck out [...]
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A day after Chris Sale threw against live hitters for the first time this spring, David Price got his shot in a simulated game against minor leaguers on Monday. Though Price only threw 39 pitches, versus Sale’s 52, spanning over three innings. He, too, had a cap on pitches, throwing 15 in the first and 12 in each of the final two frames.
Price faced 13 batters, allowing four hits and a run. He struck out three, despite only throwing four-seam fastballs, two-seam fastballs and the occasional cutter. Though he’s thrown his changeup and breaking pitches in bullpen sessions, Price did not use them in his first shot against hitters, whereas Sale threw everything in his appearance.
“Curveball is always the last one that I bring along,” Price said. “Then changeup, again is just a feel pitch. [The] changeup is the only pitch that I throw that I really pronate on. It rolls off your ring finger and your pinky finger. So I want to build up a little bit more before I start throwing that, as well.
“I feel like we’re doing it the right way. To feel as good as I feel right now at this point in spring training is ... I’m not used to that.”
Facing live hitters in preparing for the season is usually difficult for Price, who told the Standard-Times “that’s usually whenever I take a couple steps back.” Getting that first step out of the way was a relief for the lefty, and he felt the structured setting played a role.
“To get that first one out of the way and in a controlled environment like that, it feels good,” Price said. “Just to be able to stand here right now and feel as good as I feel it’s different than many other spring trainings.”
Positive thinking
Rafael Devers finished last season with 10 home runs in 58 games and a .284/.338/.481 line.
But now the book is out on Devers. He’s played enough for advanced scouts to develop a lengthy report on him, so comes the concern of the dreaded “sophomore slump.”
Good thing Devers, 21, isn’t familiar with the phrase.
“I never heard of a sophomore slump before,” Devers told The Standard-Times through a translator. “I have had bad stretches where I don’t play as well. And I think the key to [breaking through] that is just staying positive throughout it.
“As ballplayers we have moments where we second-guess ourselves and we get inside our own head, and the only way to combat that is to just be positive. And that’s exactly what I plan to do this season.”
In addition to remaining positive, the team is stressing confidence, specifically when it comes to his fielding. When Mike Lowell came to camp to work with the third basemen, the 2007 World Series MVP brought up that topic frequently.
“The biggest thing he told me was about having confidence at third base,” Devers said. “When you build that confidence everything falls into place. I think that was the biggest thing I learned from him, just being confident and being able to understand that I have good hands and that I can move my feet just like any other third baseman. It’s just about the confidence.”