David Price Can Erase All of the Hate

David Price has a chance to erase any and all of the hatred he’s received since he signed with the Red Sox two years ago. All he has to do is win Game 5 of the ALCS tonight. Against the defending World Series Champion Astros. In Houston. On three days rest. If that happens the Red Sox are off to the World Series. Pretty simple right? Obviously I’m being sarcastic, but the chance is there for Price to shut down everyone who has ever spoken poorly about him, including myself, since arriving in Boston.

David Price is bad in the postseason as a starting pitcher, like really bad. We’re talking second-worst-ERA-in-MLB-postseason-history type of bad. He holds a 6.16 ERA as a starter to be exact. He also doesn’t have a win in his postseason career as a starter sitting at a cool 0-9. So if for some reason you didn’t know Price’s postseason troubles as a whole, now you do. However, since getting to Boston it's been even worse. He’s 0-3 with an ERA of 11.17. That’s a good reason for fans to jump down his throat like they have, but if he can pull off a win in Game 5 of the ALCS tonight, any Red Sox fan with a brain should revere him as a god. Who cares about the past if a guy is giving you a shot at a World Series title right now. The window is closing for this core group of guys. Almost everyone is due to get paid within the next few years and they’re not going to be able to keep everyone. They need to win now.

All of this is set up by a terrific Game 4 where Jackie Bradley Jr. clutched up again with a go-ahead homer and Craig Kimbrel allowed the Astros to load the bases in the 9th, continuing his trend of causing heart problems for Red Sox fans everywhere. Kimbrel was saved by Andrew Benintendi’s incredible diving catch on Alex Bregman’s sinking liner that most definitely would have won the game for Houston had Benny not made the grab. Thankfully for the Red Sox he did and they won Game 4 by a score of 8-6. We also can’t forget that Chris Sale is supposed to be starting this game but can’t due to illness. All of these things combine for a scenario where the writing is on the wall for David Price to cement himself in Red Sox lore forever. All he has to do is show up in the biggest game of the season and send the Red Sox to the World Series for the first time since 2013. Not to mention silence the critics and rid himself of the demons that have plagued him his entire career. Game 5 of the 2018 ALCS is tonight, Thursday, October 18th with first pitch coming at 8:09 pm ET on TBS.