Bryan Price Overcomes Injuries To Debut With Indians In 2014

Price Overcomes Injuries To Finally Reach Majors

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The Cleveland Indians acquired Bryan Price from the Boston Red Sox on  July 31, 2009 along with Justin Masterson and Nick Hagadone in exchange for Victor Martinez.

After battling injuries through much of his minor league career he had a very successful second half of the 2013 season with the Indians Triple-A affiliate earning a birth on the Tribe’s 40-man roster.

In spring training it seemed he was poised to challenge for a spot on the Indians 25-man roster but near the end of camp his right shoulder flared up. The shoulder soreness kept him in extended spring training through the month of May.

He returned to Indians Double-A affiliate Akron RubberDucks on June 1st appearing in eight games logging 10 innings allowing just two earned runs while striking out an impressive 16 batters. With the health of his shoulder no longer ni doubt he was promoted to the Triple-A Columbus Clippers where he made 20 appearances spanning 26.1 innings and posted an ERA of 2.73 (8ER/26.1IP) while striking out more than a batter an inning (28).

When the Indians expanded their rosters on September 1st Price was added to the squad. Later that night he appeared in his first major league game against the Detroit Tigers and after retiring the first two batters he faced he allowed an opposite field homer to Miguel Cabrera. The Cabrera home run seemed to unsettle him as he walked Victor Martinez and hit J.D. Martinez and a single to Nick Castellanos to load the bases for Alex Avila who delivered a run scoring single. He finally retired Eugenio Suarez to end the inning. Overall Price appeared in three games with the Tribe and had little success as he allowed a pair of runs in each outing.

The 2014 season marked the completion of a long journey from first round draft pick in 2008 (#45 overall) to a conversion from a starting pitcher to reliever and the battle to overcome injuries to finally reach the major leagues. A healthy offseason and spring 2015 and we might see Price challenge for a spot on the opening day roster. At the minimum he’ll receive several opportunities with the team during the season as Terry Francona frequently likes to swap relievers from Columbus to Cleveland.