Price sidelined six weeks with elbow strain

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG – David Price will miss the first six weeks of the season after suffering a muscle strain in his left elbow, according to Tampa Bay Rays executive vice president of baseball Andrew Friedman.
Price felt discomfort while pitching March 20 in a minor league game at the Rays spring training complex. He was examined Monday by Dr. Koco Eaton, the Rays team physician.
“The good news is it’s nothing significant, and we had that sense pretty soon after that happened, but it’s always good to get conformation,” Friedman said.
This is the second arm for Price this spring. He missed the first week of spring training after suffering soreness in his left shoulder Feb. 26.
He pitched a pair of innings for the Rays before being sent back to the minor league complex.
The first overall pick in last June’s draft, Price was expected to start the season with Class A Vero Beach.
Now, he will spend time working with the Rays extended spring team to build arm strength so he can finally reach the mound.
“The biggest delay is building him back up, not getting him healthy,” Friedman said.