David Price Suffers Hand Injury vs. Rangers

Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price was removed from Tuesday's game against the Texas Rangers because of an apparent hand injury, according to ESPN.com.

Price was lifted from his Independence Day start after walking the leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh inning. He had tossed six shutout innings.

Price got a late start to the season after suffering an elbow injury in spring training, and he was lucky to avoid surgery. He's also dealt with a blister on his ring finger and a split fingernail on his middle finger.

Otherwise, the 31-year-old has stayed healthy throughout his career. Since his first full season in 2010, Price has reached 200 innings in six of seven seasons and averaged 32 starts per year in that stretch.

Despite playing for four different organizations since the start of 2014, Price remains one of the top starters in baseball. He has five All-Star appearances, two ERA titles and one Cy Young Award to his name.

He did, however, leave a lot to be desired after the 2016 season, when he finished with a 3.99 ERA.

Even though he posted a 17-9 record with a major league-high 230 innings pitched, he told Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe, "I don't feel like I had a very good season."

Entering Tuesday, Price was 3-2 with a 4.61 ERA through seven starts in 2017. 

While the Red Sox have one of the strongest rotations in baseball with Price, Chris Sale and Rick Porcello, anything more than a brief absence for Price could be damaging.