David Price has another award to add to his mantle. A poll in The Tennessean has named him “Middle Tennessee’s male prep athlete of the decade”. He beat out the likes of Notre Dame WR Golden Tate and Golden State Warriors forward Brandan Wright.
Quotable, from Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin:
“His greatest attribute as an athlete, without any question at all, is he’s a quick-recovery athlete. If he fails at something, he learns from it, uses it, applies it and gets better. But he’s not derailed by it. That’s what mental toughness is all about. You just can’t knock him down. He always comes back.”
The Rays should witness that first-hand this season. While the 2009 season definitely wasn’t a “failure”, it wasn’t the knockout season many expected. The 2010 season just might be that year.
***
Joe Smith writes in today’s St. Petersburg Times that Matt Joyce is ready to make another run at right field for the Rays. And, he has the backing of Durham Bulls manager Charlie Montoyo:
“I didn’t know he was that fast. I knew the kid had power, and he could hit for average, but I didn’t know he could run. … He’s a complete player. All it’s going to take for him is to be consistent, and he’ll be a very good player for the Rays for a long time.”
***
Finally, isn’t it nice how quiet things are right now with the Rays? We have the Laird brothers fighting at an NBA game. We have Edwin Encarnacion blowing up his face on New Year’s Eve. Wouldn’t it be great if the Rays stayed out of the news until, say, February 18?
