Excitement grew as Mookie Betts made his Los Angeles Dodgers debut against the Chicago Cubs last Sunday. He batted in his familiar leadoff spot and is expected to do so throughout the regular season as well.
Betts has gotten into multiple games over the past week, but the same can’t be said for David Price, who continues to be slow-played by the Dodgers after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst from his left wrist last September.
Price has been limited to bullpen sessions and live batting practice to this point, but is scheduled to make his first start of the spring on Monday against the Cincinnati Reds. So too is Julio Urias, who hasn’t yet appeared in a Cactus League game either.
When Price takes the mound next week, there will be a significant change to his approach. He plans on eliminating his windup and exclusively pitching out of the stretch this season, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Roberts said left-hander David Price will eliminate his windup and pitch exclusively out of the stretch this season. Price told him he has done it at times in the past. “I think it’s just the simplifying the delivery,” Roberts said. “He just realizes that he’s not compromising any stuff.”
Price has previous experience pitching out of the stretch, so ditching his windup shouldn’t necessarily be a difficult adjustment to make.
The 34-year-old is expected to occupy the third spot in the Dodgers’ starting rotation this season and hopes to make a seamless transition to the National League.
Price is coming off an injury-shortened 2019 campaign in which he posted a 7-5 record with a 4.28 ERA, 3.62 FIP and 1.31 WHIP over 107.1 innings pitched. He was limited to just six appearances in the second half but struck out a career-best 10.7 batters per nine innings across 22 overall starts.
While Price intends to pitch out of the stretch this season, Urias will instead return to a semi-windup to help get consistent rhythm in his delivery.
The 2020 season will be the left-hander’s first without an innings limit as he returns to the starting rotation on a regular basis.
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