Boston

Alex Cora: David Price Has ‘Mild Case' of Carpal Tunnel

After Red Sox starter David Price was ruled out of another start due to numbness in his hand, manager Alex Cora said the lefty has a "mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome."

Cora made the announcement on WEEI's Dale & Keefe show Wednesday, the day Price was supposed to start against the Yankees.

"Actually, there's good news," Cora said. "Obviously, when you start talking about hands and tingling effects in the fingers, you start thinking the worst. But he has a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome. We're going to treat it the way we feel — he's going to be good again."

Cora said Price hopes to pitch a bullpen session Thursday. After that, a decision will be made on whether he makes his next start.

"Actually, for everything that is going on and obviously the last 24 hours, for me, it's kind of like, 'Woof, thank God it's nothing else,'" Cora said.

Price's results have been greatly varied this season. While his ERA is an ugly 5.11, he opened the year with two consecutive 7-inning gems, striking out 10, walking 3 and allowing no runs.

In the five starts that followed, he has pitched just 23 innings, striking out 22 but walking 13 while giving up 29 hits. In his most recent start on May 3, he was tagged for nine runs, seven earned, over 3.2 innings.

Price left after just one inning against the Yankees on April 11, when he said a circulation issue caused numbness in his pitching hand. Tuesday, after it was announced Price would be scratched for his start, NBC Sports Boston's Evan Drellich opined that he should have undergone further testing after that early exit.

"A $17 million arm can't be sent for an MRI every time something crops up," he wrote. "But considering the trouble Price went through in 2017, it's hard to fathom why he and the Sox weren't as far in front of this situation as possible."

Carpal tunnel syndrome is an uncommon injury for baseball players. It's caused by repeated motions, such as typing, and is more common among esports athletes. Price is a longtime video game enthusiast, and this season, Price and teammates have been logging long hours playing Fortnite — Price told The Associated Press last month the game has "kind of taken over."

Cora did not think video games had brought on the syndrome, but he said Fortnite may be discussed when he sits down with Price on Thursday to lay out a recovery plan.

"From what I know, David has been playing video games his whole life," Cora said. "It seems like Fortnite now is the one everybody's playing, but last year I saw a lot of guys playing FIFA. That's all I know. There's a lot of teams playing Fortnite. But we'll talk about it."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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