Price open to bullpen role: 'Whatever makes the 2021 Dodgers better'
Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander David Price is willing to be a starting pitcher - as is his custom - but he's also open to pitching out of the bullpen if it's the best way he can help his team in 2021.
"I told them, whatever they need me to do, whatever makes the 2021 Dodgers better - I'm all for it," Price said, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
Price, who opted out of the 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, pitched in a game Monday for the first time since March 7, 2020. He retired the side on 11 pitches and recorded a strikeout.
David Price's first strikeout of the spring pic.twitter.com/qxRJpBQIAF
— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) March 8, 2021
The 35-year-old added that he reached out to Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to underscore his flexibility when word circulated that the club was eyeing right-hander Trevor Bauer.
"If it happens, I'm willing to do whatever you guys need me to do," Price said at the time, according to Plunkett.
The Dodgers enter 2021 with incredible pitching depth. The club has Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, and Julio Urias rounding out the projected rotation alongside Price and Bauer, but Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May are also options to draw starts.
Price has yet to appear in a regular-season game with the Dodgers since they acquired him from the Boston Red Sox alongside star outfielder Mookie Betts ahead of the 2020 campaign. He went 7-5 with a 4.28 ERA in 22 starts during the 2019 season, his last with Boston.
Price authored a 46-24 record with a 3.84 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 609 strikeouts in 588 innings over four seasons with the Red Sox. He has two years and $64 million remaining on his contract.