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Price Gets Call, May Debut Today

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By MARC LANCASTER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 13, 2008

NEW YORK - Weather and circumstances permitting, baseball's top prospect could make his major-league debut today on one of the game's grandest stages.
David Price will join the Rays before today's doubleheader with the Yankees and will be available to pitch out of the bullpen, completing a three-level tear through Tampa Bay's farm system that began in Vero Beach this spring.

Price and outfielder Jonny Gomes will be activated today in the wake of Durham's 20-2 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday night that ended the Bulls' season. Two more pitchers, Jeff Niemann and Mitch Talbot, will join the Rays on Monday when they return home to host the Red Sox.

Much as the Rays would like to keep everyone in the spotlight, it inevitably will focus on Price. The top overall pick in last year's draft, Price compiled a 13-1 record and a 2.39 ERA in 21 starts for Vero, Montgomery and Durham, including two playoff outings with the Bulls.

He dominated at the first two levels but had a tougher time in Triple-A. Still, the Rays have no doubt the left-hander can get major-league hitters out.

"For David to get this opportunity so early in his career speaks volumes about him," Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman said. "We still feel like there's some things developmentally that he needs to work on. There was a little bit of a road bump for him in Triple-A, but it was good for his development to have experienced it. We think for him to be a part of this environment and what's going on right now will further aid in his development."

Though Maddon hinted Wednesday in Boston that Price might be in line to start the second game of the Rays' Sept. 23 doubleheader at Baltimore, the 23-year-old will be used out of the bullpen in the meantime. He last pitched Tuesday, throwing 88 pitches as he allowed four runs in six innings against Scranton.

With the Rays' rotation pitching as well as it has this season, the expectation has long been that Price might step in and fill the same type of role Joba Chamberlain did with the Yankees last season - flashing his dominant stuff in a couple of innings of relief here, a couple there. The Rays don't necessarily have a strict structure in place for how that might work - and even if they did, it's highly unlikely that they would advertise it as the Yankees did with Chamberlain's infamous "Joba Rules" last year.

"Obviously, with him not having much experience in the 'pen, it'll be something that we might approach it a little differently," Friedman said. "But as far as the particulars of the 'Price Rules,' it's too early to really give any direction there."

Of course, the same caveat applies to Niemann and Talbot as well. Each has been used exclusively as a starter this season and opportunities to pitch for the Rays likely will be infrequent.

"I think all three guys can help us," said Friedman. "They've all pitched extremely well this year and we feel like in the right situations they'll all give us a nice boost over the last two weeks."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or

mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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