David Price Is Having A Bad Week

Before getting lit up by the Yankees for six runs in five innings Thursday night, David Price spent time arguing with the Boston media, which is a fate worse than death.

The entire issue seemed to stem from Price’s quotes in Dan Shaughnessy’s Wednesday column, a piece that argued Boston should stop piling on the Red Sox pitcher:

“I’m not cautious. I’m the same me. I don’t talk to the media every day like I did last year, and I guess I get blown up for that,” Price said. “But I was honest with everything they asked me last year, and I get blown up for that. So they did this to themselves. Talk to me on the day I pitch, and that’s it. There are no more personal interviews. There is no more asking me questions on a personal level. That’s done.”

This particular quote was included in a seemingly inoffensive tweet by CSNNE’s Evan Drellich:

Price took issue with Drellich for some reason later that night. Steve Buckley’s column in the Thursday described a shouting match which also involved him:

Where to begin? Following the Sox’ 8-0 loss to the Yankees, as the media was entering a long hallway that leads to the clubhouse, Price asked to speak with former Herald scribe Evan Drellich, who now covers the team for Comcast SportsNet New England.

“Sure,” said Drellich, who fell behind as the rest of the group entered manager John Farrell’s office. Price already was speaking loudly to Drellich when we entered the office. Kevin Gregg, the Sox media relations director, shooed everyone out of the hallway and into the office then closed the door. We still could hear Price yelling.

After that happened, Buckley tried speaking to Price, and then there was even more yelling:

Price informed me that yes, from now on, he’d only talk on days he pitches. He followed with this: “Write whatever the (expletive) you want. Just write it. Whatever the (expletive) you want.”

Soon Drellich was back in the room, and he and Price went at it again. When Drellich said something about Price’s professionalism, [Red Sox pitcher Rick] Porcello, standing nearby, asked about Drellich’s professionalism.

A few minutes later, when I spoke with Kevin Gregg about my own exchange with Price, I was told to wait around a few minutes. Gregg was going to see if Price would speak with me.

The last words I heard from David Price last night were “(Expletive) them! (Expletive) them all. All of them.”

Price started yesterday and gave up two Gary Sanchez bombs as the Red Sox lost to the Yankees, 9-1. Afterwards, he said that spat didn’t affect him:

As for what happened Wednesday night, he said, “Absolutely not,” when asked if it had any effect on his awful performance.

“It was not tough at all to play this game,” he said. “This is baseball. This stuff happens. It happens to the best of the best, and it happened to me tonight.”

The Red Sox are back at Fenway for the next five games. Price might be happy to be off the road for a bit, although home doesn’t seem so welcoming for him either.