Rays send Price to minor league camp

ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com

ST. PETERBURG – It was impressive, those two innings David Price threw in the last four days.

He dropped jaws with this 17-pitch, three strikeout performance against the New York Yankees in the first big league game he every appeared in then set the side down in order Tuesday against the Twins in Minnesota.

The left-handed Price threw in the high-90s, kept the ball on the inside part of the plate to right-handed batters and showed the aggressiveness and command you’d want out of the No. 1 overall pick in last June’s draft.

Now it’s time for the Price to get some work, and that will only happen at the Tampa Bay Rays minor league complex.

Price was one of three players reassigned to the minor league camp of Tuesday’s 7-1 victory against the Twins in Fort Myers.

Also reassigned were outfielder Justin Ruggiano and right-handed pitcher Jae Kuk Ryu.

Both spent time with the Rays last season.

The organization has not set a timetable on when Price will reach the big leagues. They haven’t even said where he will start the year, Double A Montgomery or Triple A Durham.

Rays manager Joe Maddon has said this spring he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Price pitching in the major leagues this season.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound 22-year-old displayed a maturity this spring that didn’t go unnoticed.

“He is the same all the time,” Maddon said.

Price stole the show when it was his turn to tell the joke during the Rays daily morning meetings.

“He nailed it,” Maddon said.

Maddon was also impressed with the way Price has handled himself when mixing with fans at some of the events sponsored by the Rays.

But it was the way Price carried himself in the clubhouse since the moment he arrived in camp that impressed Maddon and the composure he took to the mound when he debuted against the Yankees at Legends Field last Saturday.

“He has ice water in his veins,” Maddon said. “He’s all of that. It’s not an act. He’s self-composed. He couldn’t have handled this any better. The guys tease him a lot, but when he throws, they all stop and watch.”