It's Time to Meet David Price

Last night, with a trip to the World Series on the line, Joe Maddon turned the game over to a fire-balling 23-year-old pitcher named David Price who pitched so little during for the Rays the regular season that he's still going to be considered a rookie next year. To many hardcore baseball fans, this move wasn't a big surprise at all. To everyone else, Maddon seemed insane for trusting an untested pitcher in such a big spot.

So. Who is David Price?

A little more than a year ago, Price was the first pick in the June draft of the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was the consensus No. 1 after rolling to an 11-1 record with a silly 194 strikeouts in 133 1/3 innings in his senior year at Vanderbilt. He started his pro career this year in high Class A, where he made six dominant starts and was quickly promoted to AA. He did the same thing in Montgomery, making nine starts, averaging about a strikeout an inning with a 3.72 K/BB ratio.

His fast track to the big leagues seemed to slightly derail when he was promoted to AAA Durham at the end of this season. He only worked 18 innings in four starts and struggled with his control a bit. I went to see Price pitch at the end of August and wasn't that impressed, openly wondering if he could help the Rays at all down the stretch this year, even if he only worked out of the pen.

Which is why I'm not a scout.

As it turns out, maybe I should've been looking at his AAA work like a pitcher working in spring training. The Rays didn't waste any time calling him up when Durham's season ended. He gave them a few solid relief appearances and a decent start down the stretch, making it not terribly surprising when they elected to go with him as the extra reliever on the roster when they opted for another arm for Boston after their ALDS series against Chicago. It may surprise you to learn that 6'6" lefties with 95 mph fastballs and electric sliders don't grow on trees, so it was hard to argue with the addition of Price to the roster, even with his lack of big league experience and rough stint in AAA.

But we all saw last night why Joe Maddon made the move. With Grant Balfour in the 'pen and ready to pitch the ninth, Maddon stuck with his rookie to pitch to Jason Bay and the bottom part of the Red Sox order, and he shut them down to pick up the save. As Josh noted earlier today, Price should get some work in the World Series against Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and beyond that, he's a virtual lock to win a rotation spot next spring from Andy Sonnanstine or Edwin Jackson. Yeah, imagine that guy you saw slamming the door on the Red Sox last night as the fourth starter behind James Shields, Scott Kazmir, and Matt Garza.

Price has a very bright future and, while he might have seemingly burst onto the national stage out of nowhere last night, I don't think he's going anywhere now that he's arrived.