We heard this guy was good. Now David Price is the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year. The Tampa Bay Rays’ $8.5 million left-handed pitching prospect began the season in Class A ball, before spending most of the summer at Class AA Montgomery, Ala. He came to Durham in August, where he lost his first game of the year, after starting with a combined 11-0 record, with a 1.87 ERA. He went 1-1 with the Bulls in regular season, improving with each start.
The Bulls’ recently departed 39-year-old catcher Mike DeFelice has been around long enough to offer high praise in the story:
Durham Bulls catcher Mike DiFelice, who has played in 13 big-league seasons, says the only left-hander he has seen with the same repertoire as Price is Randy Johnson.
“There are obvious reasons why Price was the first pick in the draft,” DiFelice says. “He’s got a nice electric arm. He’s got great velocity for a left-handed pitcher. I’m impressed with his composure. And he has the ability to command the inside part of the plate with his fastball and sharp slider. He doesn’t have to work on the outside.”
The whole story is worth a read, by the way.
The Bulls have a maximum of three home games remaining this season, as they attempt to beat the Yankees of Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre in the third and possibly fourth and fifth games of the Governor’s Cup final of the International League, Sept. 11-13. Game 2 is tonight in Scranton.
