Buckley On Sports Final: David Price 'Just Needs To Lighten Up'
BOSTON (CBS) -- It hasn't been the best of times for David Price since signing a megadeal with the Boston Red Sox last winter.
Price was solid during his first regular season with the Sox, going 17-9 with a 3.99 ERA, but his postseason woes followed him to Boston as he was roughed up in his only playoff start during the team's three-game Divisional round sweep by the Cleveland Indians. Those struggles provide fans (and/or trolls) on social media with plenty of ammo, and Price does himself no favors by responding to some of those online attacks.
It's been a love/hate relationship between Price and Red Sox fans over his year-plus in Boston, though it tends to favor the latter more times than not. The Boston Herald's Steve Buckley offered a little bit of advice for Price when discussing the team Sunday night on WBZ-TV's Sports Final.
"I still say he just needs to lighten up. I'm not the team psychologist … but I was reminded of this the other night when David Ortiz came into Fenway and brought all of that old energy and 'Big Papi' with him," said Buckley. "They need someone to step up and really light a fire under this team. David Price just needs to [lighten up]. Something always bothers him. You go back to when he was with Tampa Bay and always got worked up over David Ortiz styling on the home runs. Well, I'm sorry David Price, we need more David Oritz types to excite the masses when they go to the ballpark.
"David Price just needs to not worry about any of that stuff," Buckley said of what he writes for the Herald and what's said on sports talk radio that always seems to bother Price. "Just go out and celebrate the game of baseball and use his enormous God-given talents and get a big streak going."
Price is 2-2 with a 4.76 ERA in his six starts since returning from an elbow injury he suffered during spring training.
