“Can David Price Be The 2008 Joba?”

[majohn (點勒!點勒!)]

http://mvn.com/mlb-rays/2008/05/30/can-david-price-be-the-2008-joba/

很有趣的一篇文

Let me start this off by saying this is complete speculation on my part and
this is basically my mind wondering off into “What could be” land.

While sitting back thinking about the Rays possibly competing down the
stretch, I was wondering how David Price would fit in the 2008 plans, if at
all. There has been plenty of chatter on Raysbb.com about this, and today on
the Free Stretch with Bobby Fenton, Fenton and Co. went into a deep
discussion about this very topic.

Could David Price be in the Rays 2008 plans? What role would he have? And is
it in the best interest for him and the team to explore such an idea? Or
should they just let him progress at the minor league level?

Coming into the 2008 season, everybody was just chomping at the bit to see
Price pitch at some capacity. After a heavy work load at Vanderbilt and the
fact that he signed a little later than hoped, the Rays decided to shut down
Price last season and he did not pitch in any minor league games.

Price then reported to big league spring training camp this year and there
was brief talk that Price could make the team out of camp. That was basically
the extent of that idea, talk, because from the beginning it was clear the
Rays had no intentions of Price starting the season in the Majors. After
being held out for a week with a minor injury Price made two impressive, but
brief, Spring Training appearances before he was sent out to minor league
camp. Once there, Price re-aggravated his elbow strain and would spend the
better part of the next two months rehabbing and throwing in extended spring
training.

All healthy now, Price has made two dominating starts for Advanced Class A
Vero Beach and there are already whispers and hopes of seeing Price at the
major league level this year. Publicly there has been no word on the what the
Rays have planned as far as a projected path to the Major League level.  It
was believed the Rays planned to have Price pitch at least 10 games at Vero
Beach, but with the level of success he’s already having that would seem
like a waste of time.


If Price continues to pitch well over the next 3-4 starts I could see the
Rays making the move and promoting Price to the next level, which is Double-A
Montgomery. From there its anyone’s guess as to what the Rays would do.
Depending on his success at that level, and the Rays status in the standings
and team needs, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility by any sorts
for Price to make the jump from Double-A straight to the Majors. Just look at
Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers. If the situation calls for it the Rays could
also promote Price to Triple-A for a few games, similar to what the Yankees
did with Joba Chamberlain last season.

Here’s where another question comes into play. What role would Price take on
if such a move was made. Obviously, the plan is for David Price to be a front
line starter for the Rays for many seasons to come but, like Chamberlain, the
Rays could opt to use Price as a late inning reliever this year to limit the
use of his arm, break him into the Majors slowly and add a dominate left
handed fireballer at the end of games.

If Price makes another 15 appearance between now and say September 1st, he
will have the same number(17) of minor league appearances that Chamberlain
had when he was called up. Like Price, Chamberlain was a college pitcher who
started his pro career in the Florida State League.  Chamberlain had 32
college appearances(all starts) and logged 208 innings at Nebraska. Price
made 43 appearances while at Vandy with 34 of them coming in starts. Price
also threw a lot more innings than Chamberlain with 254.1.

Chamberlain started his minor league career in 2007 with seven starts(4-0,
2.03 ERA) and 40 innings at the FSL level. He then made eight
appearances(seven starts, 40.1 innings) at Double-A Trenton, before making
three more appearances(eight innings, including one start) in Triple-A
Scranton. From there Chamberlain was a key member of the Yankees bullpen late
last season and post season.

Given the number of innings Price threw at the collegiate level, it is very
possibly he could make a few less starts than Chamberlain did in the minors
and make it to the majors in a similar time frame. He then could be used in a
similar role to Chamberlain, as a late ining reliever to limit the number of
innings and pitches he throws, but also maximize his impact.

Will it happen?  Is it even a possibility? Nobody knows. The Major League
season is still very new and Price has only made two starts in the minors.
The Rays won’t rush Price if they don’t feel he’s ready, but it’s hard to
think Price is going to struggle much along the way.

A lot is going to depend on the success of the Major League ball club as
well. If the Rays have a few hiccups along the way and fall to the middle of
the pack at around .500 then there is a small chance that we seen Price this
season. But if the Rays were contending into mid and late September, and the
organization feels Price is ready physically and mentally, I’d find it hard
for them to not toy with the idea of having a 6′6 lefty coming out in the
8th inning throwing a 98 MPH fastball mixed in with an upper 80’s, and down
right nasty, slider.

As I said in my intro this is merely speculation, but as the season goes by
and the Rays keep winning, these “pipe dreams” may start to become reality
in the minds of Rays fans and team officials alike.  It’s pretty good to be
around the Rays right now, and Jonny Gomes was right “I’ll tell you what,
it doesn’t suck.”


--
Do you know what I most hate about?
       The PUSSY has a GUN on "his" hand!

            SHUT'EM UP -------Mr. Smith

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推 paradoxjor:我也覺得Rays繼續是Contender的話 Price會上來當中繼
→ majohn:只要不是rush到都可以拉qq...