Draft and minor leagues Price was drafted with the first-overall pick of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. He signed his first professional contract on August 15, 2007. The six-year contract was worth $11.25 million ($8.5 million guaranteed), including a $5.6 million signing bonus. After the contract was approved by MLB, he was added to the Devil Rays
40-man roster before being optioned to the minor leagues to begin his career. The total value of Price's bonus was the largest in draft history. The signing bonus was second-largest in draft history, behind only the $6.1 million
Justin Upton received from the
Arizona Diamondbacks as the top overall pick in the
2005 MLB draft. The guaranteed value was the third-highest in draft history, trailing only
Mark Prior ($10.5 million) and
Mark Teixeira ($9.5 million) from the 2001 draft. Price made his
spring training debut against the Yankees,
hitting the first batter he faced, Francisco Cervelli, and striking out the next three in one inning of work. Price was first assigned to pitch for the
Vero Beach Devil Rays of the
Class A-Advanced Florida State League. He started six games for Vero Beach, compiling a record of 4–0. He had an ERA of 1.82 with 37 strikeouts in innings pitched. In his second start in Vero Beach, Price pitched against
Pedro Martínez. After the game, Martínez said of Price: After moving up through the Rays minor league system to the
Montgomery Biscuits of the
Class AA Southern League in July, Price was promoted to the
Durham Bulls of the
Class AAA International League on August 9, 2008. After compiling an 11–0 combined record at Single-A and Double-A, Price received his first professional
loss in his first start at Triple-A Durham.
Tampa Bay Rays (2008–2014) 2008 Price made his major league debut with the Tampa Bay Rays on September 14, 2008, against the
Yankees. The first MLB hit he allowed was a home run by
New York Yankees shortstop
Derek Jeter; Jeter later recorded his 3,000th hit by again homering off Price in 2011. Price pitched innings of
relief; he made his first major league start with the Rays on September 22, 2008, against the
Baltimore Orioles. He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the
2008 ALCS against the
Boston Red Sox, earning a postseason victory before winning a regular-season game. Price recorded the final four outs in Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS, earning his first career save (regular season or postseason; postseason statistics are recorded separately) and eliminating the defending champion Red Sox. Price then pitched innings in Game 2 of the
2008 World Series against the
Philadelphia Phillies; he gave up two earned runs but nevertheless earned his second postseason save. The next day, Price introduced
Barack Obama at a campaign rally in Tampa. in 2009
2009 On May 30, 2009, Price collected his first major league regular-season win with a 5–2 victory over the
Minnesota Twins in which he struck out 11 batters in under 6 innings. He completed the season with a 10–7 record, a 4.42 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and 54 walks in 23 starts. He finished the 2010 season tied for second in the American League (with
Jon Lester) in wins (19) and in third place in ERA (2.72). He was eighth in the league in
strikeouts with 188. He finished second in voting for the AL
Cy Young Award behind
Félix Hernández. Price pitched in the
2012 MLB All-Star Game. Price got his 20th win against the
Chicago White Sox on September 30, making him the first 20-win pitcher in Rays franchise history. In recording the win, he became the youngest American League pitcher (aged 27) to earn 20 wins in a season since 2004. Price won the
AL Cy Young Award after a tight race.
2013 In 2013, Price went 10–8 on the season with a 3.33 ERA, and had an American League-leading and career-best four complete games. On July 6, Price was named to his fourth All-Star team; he did not participate in this All-Star game due to pitching in a game two days prior, avoiding pitching on only one day of rest. He was replaced by
Fernando Rodney. Before a July 31 trade to the Detroit Tigers, Price had a record of 11–8, with a 3.11 ERA, 189 strikeouts, and 23 walks in 23 starts with the Rays.
Detroit Tigers (2014–2015) 2014: MLB Strikeouts leader On July 31, Price was traded to the
Detroit Tigers in a three-team deal that sent
Drew Smyly,
Nick Franklin and
Willy Adames to the
Tampa Bay Rays, and
Austin Jackson to the
Seattle Mariners. In his Tigers debut against the New York Yankees on August 5, Price pitched innings, allowing three runs, striking out ten, and walking none. On August 21, in his first game against his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, Price allowed one hit and an unearned run with one out in the first inning, then retired the final 23 batters he faced, but suffered a complete game loss. Price is the first pitcher in the major leagues to lose a complete game, one-hitter or better, with no earned runs since
Andy Hawkins lost a no-hitter for the
New York Yankees on July 1, 1990. It was the first time since 1914 that a pitcher has lost a complete game, one-hit, no walk start without allowing an earned run. On August 27, in a game against the Yankees, Price allowed eight runs and twelve hits, including nine straight in the third inning of an 8–4 loss. He is the first pitcher since
Bob Forsch in 1989 to allow nine straight hits. Only three previous times in major league history had a pitcher allowed 12 hits in two innings or fewer, the others being
Shawn Estes in 2003,
Johnny Podres in 1963 and
George Uhle in 1929. With the Tigers, Price went 4–4 over the final two months of the season, with a 3.59 ERA and 82 strikeouts in innings. Price finished the 2014 regular season with a 15–12 record, 3.26 ERA and 1.08 WHIP. He led all of major league baseball in innings pitched (), batters faced (1,009) and strikeouts (271).
2015 season: AL ERA leader On January 16, 2015, Price and the Tigers avoided arbitration agreeing on a $19.75 million salary for the 2015 season, setting a record for the largest one-year deal for an arbitration-eligible player prior to free agency. Price was named the Tigers opening day starter for 2015 by manager
Brad Ausmus, ending teammate
Justin Verlander's streak of seven consecutive opening day starts. He responded by pitching shutout innings in the Tigers 4–0 win over the Minnesota Twins. On July 6, 2015, Price was named to the
2015 All-Star Game, his fifth such honor. Price pitched a scoreless fourth inning in the game, striking out two, and earning the win for the AL. He entered the All-Star Break with a 9–2 record, 2.38 ERA and 115 strikeouts. Price made his debut for the Blue Jays on August 3. He threw 119 pitches in 8 innings, recording 11 strikeouts and a winning decision, while yielding only 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run in a 5–1 victory over the Minnesota Twins at
Rogers Centre. His 11 strikeouts tied
José Núñez's team record for most strikeouts in a Blue Jays' pitching debut. On September 5, Price earned his 100th career win, by beating the Baltimore Orioles 5–1. He was scratched from his final start of the season on October 1, as the Blue Jays had clinched the AL East the previous day. Price made 11 starts for the Blue Jays in 2015, and went 9–1 with a 2.30 ERA and 87 strikeouts in innings.
Boston Red Sox (2016–2019) 2016 On December 4, 2015, Price signed a seven-year, $217 million contract with the
Boston Red Sox, a franchise record. Price recorded a win in his debut with the Red Sox on April 5, 2016. Price's first season was markedly different from the first to second half. In his first 18 starts, Price compiled an 8–6 record with a 4.64 ERA. He finished the season at 3.99 ERA with a 17–9 record. Price was criticized for his berating of Eckersley, as well as his refusal to apologize, by both the media and fans. On July 28, Price was again placed on the 10-day disabled list due to left elbow inflammation. He returned to the Red Sox on September 14 and was used from a reliever role for the rest of the season. In the
2017 American League Division Series against the
Houston Astros, Price pitched scoreless innings, including four innings in Game 3. The Red Sox eventually lost the series, 3–1. "If I go out pitch the way I'm capable of pitching, they won't care," he said. On May 9, Price was scratched from a scheduled start against the Yankees due to a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome. During the 2018 regular season, Price made 30 appearances (all starts) with a 16–7 record, 3.58 ERA, and 177 strikeouts in 176 innings. It was Price's first win in 12 career postseason starts, and his third postseason win overall; the two earlier wins had been earned in relief during the
2008 ALCS and
2015 ALDS. Price also pitched scoreless relief in Game 3 and warmed up in the bullpen for Game 4. Although ace
Chris Sale was available on full rest (albeit with a shoulder injury), Price started Game 5, with
Alex Cora reasoning that a National League park could require a
pinch hitter that would cause him to remove his starter early. Price surrendered a home run to
David Freese on his first pitch, but then retired 14 batters in a row. He was relieved in the eighth inning with Boston leading, 5–1;
Joe Kelly and Sale got the final six outs to clinch the World Series victory. On October 31, prior to the Red Sox victory parade, Price announced that he would not exercise an opt-out clause in his contract, saying that he wants to win in Boston; "We did that this year, and I want to do it again." In early November, the New York City chapter of the
Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) announced Price as the
Babe Ruth Award recipient, honoring MLB player with the best performance in the postseason. Later in November, Price was announced as the AL
Comeback Player of the Year.
2019 Prior to the season, Price announced that he was changing his
uniform number from 24 to 10, a tribute to his son Xavier, since "X" represents the
Roman numeral ten. Price began the season as a member of the starting rotation, pitching to a 1–2 record with 3.75 ERA in six starts, until being placed on the
injured list on May 6, retroactive to May 3, due to left elbow
tendinitis. starting and getting the win in a game against Toronto. From May 20 to July 7, Price won 6 straight decisions. Price was briefly on the paternity list in early August, He was activated from the injured list on September 1. He pitched that day, then was held out of the rotation due to additional concern about his wrist. He did not pitch again during the season, finishing with 22 appearances (all starts), recording 128 strikeouts in innings and a 7–5 record with a 4.28 ERA. In May 2020, Price announced he would donate $1,000 to each of the Dodgers minor league players in an effort to help offset their costs during the
COVID-19 pandemic. Price was active for the
NLDS but did not appear in a game, then was left off the roster for the
NLCS but was added for Game 6 after an injury to
Joe Kelly, but he did not appear in that series either.
2022 In early September, Price was placed on the injured list following 38 appearances in the 2022 season, all of them out of the bullpen. During an interview with ''
USA Today's''
Bob Nightengale, Price said he was considering retirement following the 2022 season. "It's just time," he said. "Everything on my body hurts." As news of his potential retirement spread, Price clarified to news outlets that he had not made a final decision on the timing of his retirement and that he planned to return to pitching in time for the postseason. He pitched out of the bullpen in two more games that season, in late September. It was the first season in his career where he had not started any games. He allowed 11 runs in innings for a 2.45 ERA, and did not pitch in the postseason. ==Scouting report==