Anybody have Prior information??
- Thread starter Wilson
- Start date
Let's try to answer some questions that have swirled about the Prior situation since the Cubs shut him down around March 1:
Q. How many pitches will Prior throw this afternoon?
A. The Cubs have tried to turn this into a state secret, saying they don't want Pirates batters taking pitches and running up Prior's pitch count.
The silliness aside, common sense says Prior will throw about 85 pitches. If he's economical, that could take him into the seventh inning. In his final minor-league rehab start, last Sunday for Class AAA Iowa, Prior threw 79 pitches.
Q. Prior went from July 11 to Aug. 5 between starts last year because of a shoulder injury. How did he do in his first start back?
A. Very well. Prior worked 6 innings in a 3-0 Cubs victory at San Diego on Aug. 5. He threw 79 pitches over 6 innings. He gave up 2 hits while walking one and striking out six. The win began a streak of 7 in a row.
Q. Which Pirates batters have hit well against Prior, and which one has Prior dominated?
A. Catcher Jason Kendall is 8-for-18 (.444) against Prior with 2 doubles. Craig Wilson is 5-for-11 with a homer and 3 RBI.
Pesky shortstop Jack Wilson has only 1 hit in 12 at-bats against Prior.
Q. How are Prior's heel and elbow?
A. He says both are fine and that he experiences normal soreness the day after he throws.
Q. Can we expect Prior to be the same pitcher who went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA last year?
A. Perhaps not right away, but if Prior remains healthy, there's no reason he can't be just as dominant after 1 or 2 starts.
Q. Did manager Dusty Baker "abuse" Prior last year?
A. That depends on how one defines that loaded term. In his final 3 starts of the 2003 regular season, Prior threw 124, 131 and 133 pitches, respectively. Those are big numbers, especially for a pitcher at the end of a season. Also at that time, the Cubs were aware his Achilles' tendon was acting up.
If you can criticize Baker for any single outing, it was Game 2 of the National League championship series, when Baker allowed Prior to pitch 7 innings of a 12-3 rout of the Marlins. The Cubs led 11-0 after 5 innings and 12-2 after 6. Prior ran his pitch count to 116.
Would taking Prior out earlier have prevented the Marlins' 8-run inning in Game 6?
We'll never know.
Q. How did the Cubs handle the injury situation?
A. The Cubs are conservative with most injured players, and except for one period in March when Prior pushed it, they stayed with that approach.
From a public-relations standpoint, this was not the Cubs' finest hour. Some would call it an unmitigated disaster. After first telling the media chances were "slim" Prior would miss any starts, they changed it to 1 start and stuck with that story for a while.
At the home opener on April 12, when most members of the media and the public figured Prior wouldn't be back before June, the Cubs tried to peddle a line of "early to mid-May."
And then there was that little matter of trying to sneak Prior to Chicago in late March for further tests. The story got out to one outlet (with the Cubs providing medical results to that outlet and not to others), doing almost irreparable damage to team credibility in such issues.
Q. What teams will Prior face in the near future?
A. If all goes well, he will pitch against St. Louis next Wednesday, at Houston the following Monday, and against Oakland on June 19.
Q. How many pitches will Prior throw this afternoon?
A. The Cubs have tried to turn this into a state secret, saying they don't want Pirates batters taking pitches and running up Prior's pitch count.
The silliness aside, common sense says Prior will throw about 85 pitches. If he's economical, that could take him into the seventh inning. In his final minor-league rehab start, last Sunday for Class AAA Iowa, Prior threw 79 pitches.
Q. Prior went from July 11 to Aug. 5 between starts last year because of a shoulder injury. How did he do in his first start back?
A. Very well. Prior worked 6 innings in a 3-0 Cubs victory at San Diego on Aug. 5. He threw 79 pitches over 6 innings. He gave up 2 hits while walking one and striking out six. The win began a streak of 7 in a row.
Q. Which Pirates batters have hit well against Prior, and which one has Prior dominated?
A. Catcher Jason Kendall is 8-for-18 (.444) against Prior with 2 doubles. Craig Wilson is 5-for-11 with a homer and 3 RBI.
Pesky shortstop Jack Wilson has only 1 hit in 12 at-bats against Prior.
Q. How are Prior's heel and elbow?
A. He says both are fine and that he experiences normal soreness the day after he throws.
Q. Can we expect Prior to be the same pitcher who went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA last year?
A. Perhaps not right away, but if Prior remains healthy, there's no reason he can't be just as dominant after 1 or 2 starts.
Q. Did manager Dusty Baker "abuse" Prior last year?
A. That depends on how one defines that loaded term. In his final 3 starts of the 2003 regular season, Prior threw 124, 131 and 133 pitches, respectively. Those are big numbers, especially for a pitcher at the end of a season. Also at that time, the Cubs were aware his Achilles' tendon was acting up.
If you can criticize Baker for any single outing, it was Game 2 of the National League championship series, when Baker allowed Prior to pitch 7 innings of a 12-3 rout of the Marlins. The Cubs led 11-0 after 5 innings and 12-2 after 6. Prior ran his pitch count to 116.
Would taking Prior out earlier have prevented the Marlins' 8-run inning in Game 6?
We'll never know.
Q. How did the Cubs handle the injury situation?
A. The Cubs are conservative with most injured players, and except for one period in March when Prior pushed it, they stayed with that approach.
From a public-relations standpoint, this was not the Cubs' finest hour. Some would call it an unmitigated disaster. After first telling the media chances were "slim" Prior would miss any starts, they changed it to 1 start and stuck with that story for a while.
At the home opener on April 12, when most members of the media and the public figured Prior wouldn't be back before June, the Cubs tried to peddle a line of "early to mid-May."
And then there was that little matter of trying to sneak Prior to Chicago in late March for further tests. The story got out to one outlet (with the Cubs providing medical results to that outlet and not to others), doing almost irreparable damage to team credibility in such issues.
Q. What teams will Prior face in the near future?
A. If all goes well, he will pitch against St. Louis next Wednesday, at Houston the following Monday, and against Oakland on June 19.
