David Price Not The Only Ace Lacking Velocity This Season

BOSTON (CBS) -- David Price is struggling mightily. And while the concern over the lefty's performance thus far is not quite at the level of "hysteria," it may get there soon.

But a new article from Jeff Passan at Yahoo shows that Price is far from the only big-name, big-money pitcher who's going through a drop in fastball velocity in 2016.

Passan explored the numbers, and for a number of baseball's most well-known arms, the velocity was just not there in April. Comparing average fastball velocity from April 2015 to April 2016, Passan found that Price was among six pitchers to experience a major dip in velocity this year.

Price's fastball velocity is down 1.2 mph. Matt Harvey is down 1.3 mph. Felix Hernandez is down to 89.5 mph. Dallas Keuchel has dropped 1.2 mph. Gio Gonzalez is down a full 2.3 mph.

Passan noted that each player has a different situation. Price, for example, actually has had a higher strikeout rate than his career numbers, despite now being the ninth-hardest throwing lefty in baseball.

Hernandez, on the other hand, has posted career worst numbers in terms of strikeout and walk rates. Keuchel is coming off a Cy Young season in 2015 in which he threw 32 more innings than he ever had in a single season. Then there's Chris Sale, whose fastball has dropped in velocity for the second straight season, though that's apparently been a conscious decision by Sale.

One interesting commonality: Price, Hernandez and Gonzalez are all 30 years old.

It's an interesting story and well worth the full read. What it means can't be fully understood until later in the year. If it's July and the velocity remains down, then a slower fastball might just become a reality of life for some of these pitchers. But for now, all that can be gleaned is that Price is not alone, and everyone will be keeping a close eye on how he and these other big-name pitchers bounce back from the early-season dip in velocity.