Price: ‘Disregard' 7-10 day timetable about return

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A relieved David Price told reporters at spring training that he's relieved he won't need surgery but he's not putting a timetable on when he'll be back on the field. 

The Red Sox left-hander spoke Saturday after returning from Indianapolis, where on Friday he visited Drs. James Andrews and Neal ElAttrache, who were working at the NFL Scouting Combine. They determined that Price wouldn't need surgery after he experienced soreness in his left elbow and forearm earlier this week.

"I’m not putting a timetable on this," Price said. "They [the doctors] already said 7-10 days. If I’m not out there in 10 days, I’m sure that’s going to be the next story. If I’m out there in five days, that’ll be the next story as well. There is no timetable. There is no 7-10 days. Disregard that.” 

The renowed orthopedists' diagnois and recommendatin of rest and anti-inflammatory drugs has put Price, and the Red Sox, at ease.

"It’s not really something I’ve had to go through before," Price told reporters. "To hear it from two of the best elbow guys out there, it’s definitely a sigh of relief and ready to go.”

Price said the doctors told him his elbow is "unique."

"They're like, 'Your elbow is extremely unique. It's found a way to kind of heal itself,'" Price said. "So it's pretty neat."
 
Price, 31, signed a seven-year, $217 million contract last winter with the Red Sox. He's coming off a first season in Boston in which he went 17-9, with a somewhat disappointing 3.99 ERA, and where his playoff drought continued (0-8 as a starter, 5.59 ERA) after he was hit hard in an ALDS loss to the Indians. He has totaled the fifth-most innings pitched (1,657.2) in baseball since his MLB debut in 2008. 

"They expected it to be a lot worse than what it was," Price said of the doctors. "That was both of them. They said it multiple times. They said, 'We expected this to be a lot worse than what it really is.' Everything they said, honestly, I didn't feel like that meeting could have went any better. I don't look at this to be anything too serious."

If Price can't start the season, the Red Sox still have newly acquired Chris Sale and American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello at the top of their rotation, along with All-Star knuckleballer Steven Wright, Eduardo Rodriguez and Drew Pomeranz. 

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