TORONTO – One of these days, when he's allowed to say what he really thinks – when David Price, someone with hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, doesn't have to muzzle himself, as if showing a whit of self-preservation is some sort of a sin – he'll give a better sense of his feelings about the Toronto Blue Jays' treatment of him this postseason. For now, all he offers are clipped retorts, far from the general ebullience that is perhaps his most recognizable trait. Price sounds confused. He has every right to be that, and angry, too, at how the Blue Jays have turned their best pitcher into a dancing marionette.

Price left Rogers Centre on Wednesday night with giant tooth imprints on his tongue. In the aftermath of the Toronto Blue Jays' season-saving 7-1 victory against Kansas City in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, the focus should've been on Troy Tulowitzki's bases-clearing double and Marco Estrada neutering a Royals lineup that whacked 30 hits the previous two games and just about anything other than somebody getting up in the bullpen during the sixth inning.

Instead, the continued misuse of Price stood front and center as the series shifted back to Kansas City. There was Price, again, in a repeat of the division series, when Blue Jays manager John Gibbons inexplicably used him in relief during a game Toronto led by six runs. Price never got into Game 5 on Wednesday, spared by Kansas City's inability to create a scenario that would have goaded Gibbons into deploying him again. It got close enough that Price started getting loose in the bullpen, even as Toronto led 5-0, as setup man Aaron Sanchez and closer Roberto Osuna loomed with fresh arms, as using Price would've meant going to Marcus Stroman in Game 6 on short rest and using someone else – Price? R.A. Dickey? Cliff Pennington? – in Game 7 on even shorter rest.

David Price will be looking for his first postseason victory when he starts Game 6 of the ALCS. (AP) More

Certainly there is something to be said for living today, especially when today could be the last in a season into which the Blue Jays have invested so much. Game 6 does not exist without a win in Game 5, and if Game 5 is legitimately in peril, utilizing Price makes far more sense. Context matters, though, and Gibbons said if Kansas City put two runners on in the seventh, he would have brought in the left-handed Price to handle the left-handed Eric Hosmer, turn switch hitter Kendrys Morales to his weaker side and take care of left-hander Mike Moustakas.

Price knew of this plan, and he did what he was asked to do because he understands that in baseball the players are pawns and the managers Garry Kasparov. Gibbons wanted Price to get ready. Price got ready. Tomorrow be damned.

"I was warming up to come in," Price said. "Just getting ready to go get an out."

When asked whether it acted like a bullpen session, Price offered a tepid retort: "Sure."

Here's the reality: Price doesn't throw bullpens between starts, and if he did, his regular opportunity would have come Monday. And however irregular the playoffs may be, taking a bona fide ace – someone likely to finish second in the AL Cy Young voting this year and fetch a $200 million-plus contract as a free agent this offseason – and mucking up his routine is moral hazard. Pitchers live according to their schedule. The mismanagement of Price's runs the risk of leaving him naked in future games, and putting any pitcher – particularly a team's finest – in that position is sub-optimal.

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