Price Says Video Games Did Not Lead To His Carpal Tunnel, He's Ready To Make Saturday Start
BOSTON (CBS) -- David Price pitched at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.
Granted, it was only a bullpen session, but the Boston lefty is ready to return to the Red Sox rotation Saturday against the Blue Jays in Toronto.
Price was scratched from his Wednesday start in the Bronx after experience discomfort in his wrist, and it was revealed on Wednesday that the 32-year-old has a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome. He said he felt better as he made his way through a nearly 20-minute bullpen session on Thursday.
"I just eased into it and the longer it went the more effort I put behind it. I walked out feeling good about it and looking forward to Saturday," Price told reporters at Yankee Stadium.
"I could feel it loosening up while I was out there," he said of his wrist, adding that he was able to throw breaking pitches. "Once I got into the bullpen and started throwing offspeed pitches and breaking balls, I felt like it got stronger and it didn't bother me."
Price said he and the team have steps to deal with the discomfort in his wrist, and that surgery would be the last course of action.
"I'm pitching the rest of the year," he said confidently.
As for all the talk that Price's love for video games could be the cause of his Carpal Tunnel, he scoffed at that notion.
"If that was the cause of the problem, then it started back in 1997 when I got my first PlayStation when I was 12 years old. I've always played video games; with my teammates, in the offseason, at the field, in the hotel. That's kind of my generation, that's what we do," he said. "If I have to shut down my video games and pick up a new hobby, so be it. But I do not think that's the cause."
Price left his previous start against the Yankees after just one inning due to a sensation in his hand, which he chalked up to the frigid conditions at Fenway Park (surely, it had nothing to do with the five runs the Yankees tagged him for in the first inning). He said this current issue is unrelated.
"I don't think it was the wrist injury, to be honest. It was cold," he said. "I just couldn't feel my hand. That sucked."
For the season, Price is 2-4 with a 5.11 ERA over his seven starts. After pitching 14 scoreless innings in his first two outings, Price has posted an 8.22 ERA over his last five starts.
