Wannabe major league pitcher Mark Prior, who cracked that he’d try to make the Futures All-Star Game after being sent to Triple-A by the Cubs at the end of spring training, was forced to leave an extended spring training start when he felt discomfort in his shoulder, which is kind of like saying the sun rises in the morning.
From the Chicago Tribune:
If Thursday had gone well, Prior likely would have been sent to Iowa to start Tuesday. How this latest setback affects Prior’s status is unknown, but he likely will remain on the minor-league disabled list.
When Prior was sent to Iowa at the end of spring training, he said he felt good physically and was capable of getting out major-league hitters.
The Cubs have given no timetable for his return to the majors.
The drop headline on the story is telling “ even copy editors are tired of this by now: “Once-great Cub will see specialist after more shoulder woes.”
Prior was great for about a season and a half, and now seems to be in deep denial about his shoulder, arm, cranial area, etc. He’s been saying he’s felt fine for the past three years at this point, but obviously never was – the Cubs can be blamed for overworking/ then babying the guy way past the point of caution, but at some point their pitcher has to acknowledge to himself that he’s still injured.
chicagoist had some unsourced “inside information” today:
http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2007/04/13/yet_another_setback_for_prior.php
WOW!
The S-word isn’t a huge shocker, but I guess I am a little surprised. It explains the roid rage incident at the trinket store a few years ago.
Looks like the Twins wound up doing right by picking Mauer…