Silverman: For David Price, game time is over

NEW YORK — At the high risk of sounding like a helicopter parent, a scold or, worse, a “get off my lawn” grump, I’ve got this truly radical, off-the-wall suggestion for David Price.

It’s really out there, but considering Price and the Red Sox seem to have this strange disconnect and avoidance behavior about what looks like, feels like and sounds like common sense, I’ll play the adult in the room.

And I’ll ask Price to give the video games a rest.

Not a rest from “Fortnite” like Price said he would when the media was allowed in the clubhouse.

But like, all the time.

Put. Down. The. Controllers.

Price is a highly accomplished, tremendously important and richly compensated starter for the Red Sox with a left wrist sore enough to make him miss a start against his team’s fiercest rival.

Price has a “mild case” of carpal tunnel syndrome, which is a malady caused by repetitive motion. He’s getting a form of acupuncture to treat it, he’s wearing a left wrist brace while he sleeps and he’s starting to brush his teeth with his right hand.

Sure, he’ll need surgery if the wrist doesn’t get better, but c’mon, make Price stop playing “Fortnite” completely, the game he told The Athletic he’s been playing up to three hours a day since spring training?

Insert eye roll here. And with your most sincere whine, “Daaaaad, stop.”

“This is just something that happened, you know, over time, this didn’t stem from any one thing,” said Price. “I’m born in 1985, so that’s the video game’s generation. Being a Red Sox is the least amount of video games I’ve ever played being in Major League Baseball. It’s a very common thing, especially with my generation of that age. That’s when the video games really took off. It’s not something that just happened this year. This is a spot that I’ve always had to have work done. It just got a lot worse and really aggressive than it ever had. So, it’s something we can take care of. Just got a lot of different ways to combat it, and we’re doing a little bit of everything.”

Treatment is one thing but getting at the cause is another. Maybe stop doing that three-hour certain activity?

“No, I mean, I know video games, I mean, I was on my ride here I saw the Brewers were playing ‘Fortnite’ on their Jumbotron. It’s very common. I know a lot of teams, a lot of guys are really into it,” said Price. “I’m going to sleep with a brace on. Doing stuff like that to make sure my wrist stays locked back and doesn’t get bent up under me. Stuff like that. I’m just going to try and take the use out of my left hand out of a lot of I guess every-day stuff that I would normally use it.”

Yeah, but how just stopping the “Fortnite”?

“I won’t be playing at the field, that’s already caused enough noise,” said Price. “That’s not the issue though, I promise you that.”

Promise?

“I have always played video games, have always played with my teammates in the offseason, at the field, at the hotel, that is kind of my generation, that is what I do,” said Price. “If I need to shut down video games, and pick up a new hobby, then so be it, but I don’t think that is the cause.”

Price’s logic sounds pretty familiar. Name a professional athlete without blinders on to their own aging process, and you’ve named someone who’s likely not going to become a grizzled veteran. But just because you’ve done something since you were 12, doesn’t mean you can keep doing it at 32. Repetitive activities have a habit of sneaking up on you as you age, especially when that activity involves repetitive motions in a body part where you make your living.

This is where adults need to enter the picture. On a baseball team, that’s usually coaches, manager, training staff or front-office member who act as the rule-setters and rule-keepers.

But it sounds as if the Red Sox believe treating the symptoms is more important than treating the cause.

“As far as his life, he’ll be OK, I don’t think he’s a guy during the season, he might play a little bit, but he doesn’t play that often,” said Cora. “Now he’s going to make the adjustment with ‘Fortnite.’ I mean, I don’t know, I don’t know if that’s good or bad, honestly. But he understands. He understands what it takes for him to go out every five days and making adjustments is going to be part of it.”

But a flat-out prohibition on playing video games?

“Nah, nah, nah,” said Cora.

Yeah, don’t make Price stop playing video games. Because, like, if it’s broke, don’t fix it.

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