David Price says latest elbow injury ‘not even close’ to previous one

David Price was placed on the injured list Monday with elbow tendonitis, but the left-hander insists Boston Red Sox fans do not need to be concerned about him missing as much time as he did the last time he had an issue with his pitching arm.

While speaking with reporters on Monday afternoon, Price said his latest injury is “not even close” to the one that forced him to miss two months at the start of the 2017 season. He anticipates only missing one or two starts.

David Price says his arm is "bothering" him. Says it doesn't compare to the previous injury he had two years ago. "Not even close". Hope he just misses a start or two.

— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) May 6, 2019

David Price spoke, briefly. He said elbow tendinitis occurred because of ‘repetition.’ Was vague about how long it has bothered him, other than it bothers him today. Said it would be a brief layoff, that treatment would knock out the discomfort.

— Michael Silverman (@MikeSilvermanBB) May 6, 2019

Price dealt with an elbow issue during spring training in 2017, and he also had numbness in his pitching hand at one point last season. There was talk that his love for video games may have contributed to it, and that became a big source of frustration for a player who has had a notoriously bad relationship with fans and media in Boston. Of course, a lot of that changed when he pitched well in the postseason and helped the Red Sox win a World Series.

The Red Sox have won six of their last seven games and are 17-18 on the year, so this isn’t a great time to lose one of their best pitchers. Fortunately, it sounds like Price does not expect to be out long.