Red Sox place Price (wrist cyst) on injured list

August 8th, 2019

BOSTON -- The Red Sox will make yet another adjustment to their pitching rotation after was placed on the 10-day injured list on Thursday, retroactive to Monday, with a left wrist injury.

The lefty had been experiencing tightness in his wrist and underwent an MRI to address the issue. The result revealed a triangular fibrocartilage complex cyst that was treated with a cortisone shot on Wednesday.

“It’s from pitching, repetition,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Thursday of the cyst. “Honestly, knowing the guy and knowing what he did last year and how we communicate and we go, maybe he was feeling it or feeling a little bit tighter, but he felt like he could compete at this level that way.

“But little by little, it seemed like the cyst was growing and growing and growing, and it was actually limiting himself from other stuff, from the changeup and other pitches.”

Cora said he had noticed a change in the action and location of Price’s pitches over his past three or four starts. He consulted with the Red Sox's analytics team, which told him Price’s cutter was sinking.

“He was all over the place,” Cora said. “Regardless if he’s throwing 87 or 95 [mph], precision and strikes is his game.”

After reviewing the video, Cora felt Price looked affected back on July 2, a win against the Blue Jays. Price is 0-3 with two no-decisions in his last five starts. He allowed seven runs on nine hits (two home runs) over just 2 2/3 innings in his most recent outing on Sunday against the Yankees, after being reinstated from the paternity leave list prior to the game. Price is 7-5 with a 4.36 ERA over 21 starts this season.

“It actually seems like it puts restrictions as far as how he executes his pitches,” Cora said. “Maybe extension or maybe the hand placement, but the action of the pitches are actually not great.”

Cora was relieved to have an answer to Price’s struggles, and that the injury wasn’t more severe. There is no timetable set for Price’s return. Cora hopes he will be cleared to play “sooner rather than later.”

“It’s something that I was wondering,” Cora said of the injury. “The fact that he wasn’t controlling his pitches, for me, was a red flag. Now, it’s nothing elbow-related or shoulder, whatever. But it kind of gives me the answers for what was going on.”

The Red Sox plan to start left-hander Brian Johnson against the Angels in place of Price on Friday. Johnson has a 3.27 ERA over 11 innings in three starts (all no-decisions) this season.

In a corresponding move, the team recalled right-hander Hector Velazquez from Triple-A Pawtucket. Velazquez will be used out of the bullpen, where he had been utilized during this stint in Pawtucket. Velazquez, who said he has been working on all of his pitches, including his changeup, has a 5.67 ERA over 46 innings for the Red Sox this season.

“We talk about him getting better with his secondary pitches,” Cora said. “I do feel the velocity was up when he was here, using it in the right spots. But I think the split and the other pitches weren’t great. He went down there, he made a conscious effort working on that.”

Cora looks forward to the Red Sox's next day off next Thursday, when the team will be able to assess the pitching situation. Johnson, Rick Porcello and Andrew Cashner are slated to start the final three games of this series against the Angels.

"At least we found out," Cora said of Price’s injury. "Whatever people were thinking about -- if it’s the elbow or something else -- at least we know and we’ll shut him down for a little bit and then he’ll be back."