FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox left-hander David Price threw nearly his full repertoire of pitches in his outing on Saturday — fastball, cutter and changeup. Everything except a curveball.
That was reserved for Mother Nature.
Price was scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut against the Twins. But with rain in the forecast for the afternoon, he was scratched from his start, opting to pitch in a simulated four-inning game in the morning in a bullpen way at the back of the spring training complex.
“We got to keep him healthy,” manager Alex Cora said. “Obviously, we wanted him to be there and just start feeling the flow of the games, but it’s going to be the next one.”
The Boston-Minnesota game, in fact, started late and was rained out.
Price, who said he threw a total of 90 pitches in his session, including 30 warmup pitches, was pleased with his outing.
“Absolutely,” he said. “Today was my best day for everything. Strength all the way through, executing pitches. You guys missed out. It was good.”
Price threw to catcher Christian Vazquez while pitching coach Dana LeVangie looked on.
“We gave him the option of pitching in a minor league setting and/or do it in the bullpen and work on all his stuff and he chose,” LeVangie said. “I felt like it was just as good for him to do that, as well, in a bullpen session.”
“He was happy the way he felt throwing his changeup, throwing his cutter, two-seamer to both sides … I thought it was a great day for him,” he said.
LeVangie occasionally stepped into the batter’s box during Price’s session, calling out the names of opponents so Price could pitch to a game plan.
“He was (the Yankees’ Brett) Gardner and (Aaron) Judge,” Price said. “He’d stand in the box like they stand, whether they’re close to the plate or far away and go from there.”
“It was good because a lot of guys are different when they’re in the box and, whether they’re close in or far away, it’s kind of get that feel again,” he said.
The 32-year-old Price is entering the third year of a seven-year, $217 million contract. He could opt out after this season.
The Red Sox have been bringing Price and left-hander Chris Sale along slowly this spring, monitoring their workloads in an attempt to keep them healthy throughout the regular season. An elbow injury last season limited Price to 11 starts, a career low for a full season, and he went 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA.
Price wound up as a reliever for the AL East champions in the playoffs.
“Overall, a great day, 60 pitches, four up-and-downs and he felt great, so that’s important,” Cora said. “He’s right on track now.”
Price is now scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut on Thursday or Friday. He could still make three spring training starts.
“We’re not looking to build David up to 120 pitches, nine innings in spring training,” LeVangie said. “We got three more starts. We’ll build him up in the right way that he’s ready to go and ready to pitch to open the season.”
On Friday, Boston left-hander Chris Sale pitched four innings of one-run ball in his first spring training game against Miami. He allowed two hits, struck out five and walked none in Boston’s 5-4 loss.
The Red Sox are monitoring Sale’s workload this spring, so he began his preparations for the season in minor league games on the backfields of the team’s training complex. He got into the upper 90s in the first inning against the Marlins, and Cora and LeVangie suggested it might be a good idea to dial it down.
“Had to change it up after that,” Sale said. “I’m still working on that build up. You get out there the first time in front of a crowd and you want to go out there and compete. But you have to understand the end goal. We kind of came to that together. It’s not easy to dial it back and trust the process.
“I have 100 percent trust in our coaching staff, medical staff, strength staff. These guys know what they’re doing. I trust them. They have information and hard facts to back up what it is. We’re all pulling from the same rope.”
But it’s a slightly different approach.
“Game management, tempo, rhythm and keeping my head on my shoulders,” Sale said while addressing what he is working on. “When things go south, I tend to rear back and try to throw harder. We’re trying to eliminate waste pitches and maybe things between starts.”
Sale threw 58 pitches. He allowed his only run on Justin Bour’s sacrifice fly in his final inning.
For the most part, Cora liked what he saw in Sale’s first Grapefruit League start.
“I saw a few things that I talked to him about and a few adjustments I think he should make, but at the end of the day his stuff is unreal,” Cora said. “Wow, this is 96 mph and the slider. He gets the ball and he doesn’t let you breath. He’s on that elite level. The fact he’s accepted what we wanted to do is great because he understands it’s 162 games and that we might have to pitch him until November.”
Cora has not named an opening-day starter, but Sale is on schedule to start March 29 against Tampa Bay. And after his performance in his first season in Boston, Sale is the logical choice.
Sale, who was acquired in a December 2016 trade with the White Sox, went 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA in 32 starts last year, leading the majors with 214 1/3 innings and 308 strikeouts. He started for the American League in the All-Star Game and finished second in the AL Cy Young Award race.
But Sale, who turns 29 on March 30, struggled late in the season. In 11 August and September starts, he went 7-4 with a 4.09 ERA, averaging six innings. The Red Sox want to make sure he is strong for the stretch run and possibly another postseason.
NOTES: On Sunday, the Orioles beat the Red Sox 7-3 in a spring training game in Fort Myers. Colby Rasmus and Chance Sisco drove in first-inning runs against Boston starter Rick Porcello, who pitched four innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. Mookie Betts homered for the first time this spring and walked twice for the Red Sox and Hanley Ramirez had two hits and an RBI.