Rays look forward to facing David Price for the first time in a Red Sox uniform

BOSTON – It’s not the first time his former teammates will have faced him, but there’s just something a little different about left-hander David Price this time.

“It’s weird to see him in red, for sure,” said Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer. “The other teams that he played for wore blue, even a different shade of blue, but it’s really weird to see him with a red glove and red trim on his jersey.”

Price is with his third since leaving the Rays – the team that selected him first overall out of Vanderbilt in 2007 – to join the Tigers at the 2014 trade deadline. He has faced them three times while with the Tigers and Blue Jays and on Thursday afternoon, will do so for the first time since signing a seven-year, $217 million deal with the Red Sox in December.

“He’s happy,” Archer said. “I’ve talked to him and he’s really happy here, and that’s the important thing. You work your entire career to be able to choose what team you play for and it looks like he did his research, did his homework. It’s a successful organization that has a mix of youth and veteran, and I think he’s really happy here.”

Price is 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA against his former team. He held the Rays scoreless in eight innings in his first outing against them, on Aug. 21, 2014. In his next two outings, he allowed nine runs in 11 innings.

“I feel like in interleague play the pitcher has the upper hand because those guys haven’t seen you that much,” Price said. “Facing somebody that’s either a teammate or somebody you’ve faced a lot, I wouldn’t say that the hitters have the upper hand, but they know your tendencies. And for a pitcher you got to be able to execute. If you don’t execute, even if they don’t know what you’re throwing, it makes it tough.”

What will he do differently against the team that knows him so well?

“I'll probably just throw right-handed,” he said with a smile. “Switch it up on them. It probably wouldn’t go very well for myself.”

Price does most things with a smile. He still has good friends in the Rays' dugout, which can make these outings challenging. Price and Rays third baseman Evan Longoria had lunch at a Boston restaurant on Wednesday. Longoria, the Rays’ first-round (third overall) pick in 2006 and Price both made their big league debuts in 2008. The two remain good friends despite playing for American League East rivals.

So far, Price has gotten the better of Longoria, who is 0-for-9 with three strikeouts against the lefty.

“Every time we face David it’s the same,” Longoria said. “We’re friends off the field but we want to go out there and try and beat him. I know he’s the same way. Hopefully for me it gets a little bit easier. I’ve had my struggles with him when I faced him when he was in Toronto and then with Detroit.

“It’s awkward at first. So hopefully I can get a little more accustomed to what he does as a pitcher and make it a little easier to have some success. But he’s always been one of those guys who studies the game and studies hitters and knows how to mix his attack up. So it should be interesting to compete against him for the foreseeable future.”

In July, just before Price was traded from Detroit to Toronto, he faced the Rays – with a plan for Longoria’s at-bats. Price had told Longoria he would induce a comebacker and after he tagged Longoria would hug him. Longoria, though, rejected Price’s affection – which he now regrets.

“Yeah,” Longoria said with a laugh. “I was so upset that I swung at the pitch that I completely forgot that he had said he was going to try and hug me if I hit a comebacker to him up the line. And it was the perfect situation. It couldn’t have happened any better for him to kind of predict what was going to happen in that situation.

“I look back now, I wish I would have done it because it would have been a pretty funny moment to see.”

Price wasn’t having any of Longoria’s excuses.

“He won’t get (the chance for a hug) again,” Price deadpanned. “I told him an hour before the game, I was going to make him ground out to me, I was going to make him run straight to the line, I was going to give him a hug, and he just backed away with nobody on base. So that’s done.”

Although he’s been gone for almost two full seasons, Price’s presence is still felt by the Rays.

“He’s always been that guy that, even in the heat of battle, he knows how to have fun,” said Longoria. “I think that’s what makes him so good. He doesn’t let – whether it’s a mundane moment or a really big moment -- he doesn’t let those movements dictate how his demeanor’s going to be or how he’s going to react. He’s always pretty much even-keeled.”

“He’s a culture-changer,” said Archer. “He changes the expectations of everybody around him as far as the pitchers go. I don’t know the impact he has on position players, other than he’s the best cheerleader I’ve ever encountered.

"I try to mirror that as well. He’ll change the way that [Boston pitchers Rick] Porcello, [Clay] Buchholz, the young lefties that they have, all the guys, he’ll change the way they look at what being successful in the major leagues means, and that can change the entire complexion of an organization.”

The Red Sox need some culture-changing. Boston has finished last in the AL East the past two seasons, and three of the last four. In three starts this season Price is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA.

Rays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier made his big league debut with just one game in 2013, then played just a half season with Price before the lefty was traded away in 2014.

“David’s just such a good person and such a good teammate, he’s just very easy to root for,” Kiermaier said. “When you play against him it's the only time you’re like ‘OK, we’re going to try to get this guy for that however long he’s on the mound.’ Because he’s just such an influential person and just such a positive on everybody.

“Last year when I faced him when he was with Detroit and then Toronto, it’s weird because you just know him as this happy-go-goofy guy and when he’s out there on the mound he’s as serious as can be. His resume speaks for itself. I know a lot of people know how great he is off the field. But you just couldn’t’ ask for a better teammate.”

So far, Kiermaier has gotten the better of Price in their meetings, going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.

“I hit a home run off him last year in Toronto and he actually congratulated me,” Kiermaier said. “Said ‘Hey, that was a great at-bat. Nice job taking me deep. I can’t believe you did it. But good for you.’ And that just speaks volumes for his character and how great of a guy he is. When I say you couldn’t find a better teammate, I’m not just saying that just to say it. You literally could not find a better teammate in baseball than David Price. Boston is lucky to have him.

“I know his checkbook’s looking pretty good right now but I know that this will not change him at all. He’s a fierce competitor out there and he wants to be the best pitcher he can possibly be.”

Price is looking forward to facing his former teammates.

“I think the weirdness or the awkwardness kind of went away the first time I faced them, with Detroit, back at the Trop,” he said. “I just want to go out there and throw the baseball the way I know I can. I look forward to any time I get to pitch, absolutely.

“This is a new color for me. (But) that mound is still 60 feet six inches away so it doesn’t change the game of baseball.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/04/21/david-price-red-sox-rays/83338372/