Mark Prior
297465
225238440
2008-07-12T17:03:21Z
76.112.228.87
/* 2003 season */
:''his article is about the [[Major League Baseball]] pitcher. For the [[List of United States Senators|United States Senator]] with a similar name, see [[Mark Pryor]].''
{{Infobox MLB player|
name=Mark Prior|
image=Mark Prior.jpg|
width=250|
caption=Prior with the [[Chicago Cubs|Cubs]] in [[2005 Chicago Cubs season|2005]]|
position=Pitcher|
team=San Diego Padres|
number=22|
bats=Right|
throws=Right|
birthdate={{birth date and age|1980|9|7}}|
debutdate=May 22|
debutyear=2002|
debutteam=Chicago Cubs|
statyear=2006|
stat2label=[[Earned Run Average|ERA]]|
stat2value=3.51|
stat1label=[[Win (baseball)|Wins-Losses]]|
stat1value=42 - 29|
stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s|
stat3value=757|
teams=<nowiki></nowiki>
*[[Chicago Cubs]] ({{by|2002}}-{{by|2006}})
*[[San Diego Padres]] ({{by|2008}}-present)
|awards= <nowiki></nowiki>
* [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]] selection (2003)
}}
'''Mark William Prior''' (born [[September 7]], [[1980]] in [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[California]], [[United States]]) is a [[starting pitcher]] for the [[San Diego Padres]]. His career has notably been muddled with injuries after a promising start which had pundits calling him a future superstar.
His repertoire of pitches includes a low to mid 90's [[fastball]], a [[curveball]], a [[slurve]], and a [[changeup]].
Prior graduated from [[University of San Diego High School]]. He was originally drafted by the [[New York Yankees]] in the 1998 amateur draft, but they were unable to sign him to a contract.
==College career==
He would go on to attend [[University of Southern California|USC]], where he won the [[Dick Howser Trophy]] (he attended his father's ''alma mater'', [[Vanderbilt University]], for his freshman year), given annually to the national collegiate baseball player of the year. After becoming a professional baseball player, he continued his education on a part-time basis and received a business degree from [[Marshall School of Business|USC Marshall School of Business]] in 2004. He was part of a pitching rotation that also boasted current [[St. Louis Cardinals]] pitcher [[Anthony Reyes]].
==Major League career==
===2001 draft===
In 2001, Prior re-entered the draft, and was considered by some to be the top prospect, but the [[Minnesota Twins]], who had the top pick, were warned that Prior didn't want to play for them. Fearing a tough signability problem, the Twins opted to take local talent catcher [[Joe Mauer]], leaving Prior<ref>[http://www.freewebs.com/gcltwins/news/2006/press_0607061.html Twins patient to draft Mauer<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> to be taken 2nd overall by the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had also been considering drafting [[Georgia Institute of Technology|Georgia Tech]] [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets|Yellow Jackets]]' [[third baseman]] [[Mark Teixeira]], who went fifth to the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]].
===2003 season===
In {{by|2003}}, Prior finished third in the [[National League]]'s [[Cy Young Award]] voting after compiling an 18-6 win-loss record despite missing three starts after an on-field collision with [[Atlanta Braves]] second baseman [[Marcus Giles]]. Prior and Giles had both been chosen to play in the 2003 [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]], but were forced to miss the game as a result of their injuries. Prior and fellow right-handed pitcher [[Kerry Wood]] were dubbed "Chicago Heat" by [[Sports Illustrated]], and the name stuck, as the twosome were dominant in leading the Cubs to an 88-win season and a division title. However, sportswriters and fans began to criticize [[Dusty Baker]] on the high-pitch count of the two pitchers. Despite the concerns, Prior and Wood continued to pitch high counts throughout the season. In 2003, Prior averaged 113.4 pitches per starts in regular season. In the month of September, Prior recorded 126 pitches per starts. Prior averaged another 120 pitches games in the Postseason and struggled with an injury next season. Pundits often blame Baker for ruining the careers of both pitchers.
After Prior's stint on the disabled list came to an end, he compiled a 10-1 record, and pitched against former Cub [[Greg Maddux]] in the first round of the playoffs. The Cubs beat the [[Atlanta Braves]] in the first round, but lost to the eventual [[2003 World Series|World Series]] Champion [[Florida Marlins]] in the [[National League Championship Series|NLCS]], despite a tightly contested seven game battle. Prior, who was the winner in Game 2, was on the mound for the infamous [[Steve Bartman]]/[[Moisés Alou]] foul ball incident in Game 6. At the time, the Cubs were nursing a three-run lead in the 8th inning, and were only five outs away from breaking the [[Curse of the Billy Goat]]. Instead Mark lost command of all of his pitches and threw the lead away with help from some shoddy defensive work behind him, most noticeably the booted double play grounder and error by [[Alex Gonzalez (infielder)|Alex Gonzalez]].
The Marlins built off of the miscue by scoring eight runs in the next inning and 2/3, and also went on to win the deciding Game 7 of that [[NLCS]] and ultimately beat the [[New York Yankees]] in the [[World Series]].
===2004 season===
Prior was forced to miss the first two months of the {{by|2004}} season due to an [[achilles tendon]] injury. There were published reports stating that Prior would need reconstructive [[Tommy John surgery]] on his elbow, but both Prior and the Cubs flatly denied this, saying that his achilles tendon injury is the only reason he missed time in 2004. After coming off the disabled list Prior did not pitch up to expectations, leading to more speculation about the health of his arm. However, towards the end of the 2004 season, Prior seemed to return to form.
Prior struck out a career high 16 Cincinnati Reds in his last start of the season.
===2005 season===
Prior's 2005 season was again marred with numerous missed games due to injuries. After starting the season on DL again, he returned and pitched well in the early part of the season. However, on [[May 27]], Prior was hit on his right (pitching) elbow by a 117-mph comeback [[line drive]] off the bat of [[Brad Hawpe]], giving him a compression fracture. This sent him to another stint on the DL. Coincidentally, Hawpe, when playing for [[Louisiana State University|LSU]] in the [[2000 College World Series]], had hit a three-run home run off Prior that eliminated USC from contention that year. Prior finished the 2005 season with an 11-7 record in 27 starts.
===2006 season===
During the 2005 off-season, after [[Nomar Garciaparra]] left the Cubs via [[free agency]], Prior was mentioned as part of a possible deal for [[Baltimore Orioles]]'s shortstop [[Miguel Tejada]], but this trade did not come to pass. His bad luck would continue in Spring Training of 2006 when he was put on a slow throwing program. After feeling stiffness in his throwing shoulder, was diagnosed with a strained shoulder. He was placed on the 15 day disabled list, missing the first two months of the 2006 season. His 2006 debut came on June 18th, when he was shelled by the Detroit Tigers, giving up six runs in the first inning and lasted just 3.2 innings before being pulled. Prior was 0-4 in four starts with a 7.71 ERA, until he was once again put on the disabled list [[July 14]], after straining his left oblique muscle while taking batting practice. He returned on [[July 21]] to play against the [[Washington Nationals]]. He pitched 3.1 innings before he was pulled out of the game.
On [[August 14]], Prior was again placed on the disabled list (tendinitis) for the remainder of the season. He finished 2006 with a 1-6 record and a 7.21 ERA.
===2007 season===
In the off-season, the Cubs reported that Prior suffers from a "loose shoulder" which leads to injuries and means he has to do more conditioning work. Being eligible for arbitration, Prior then proceeded to ask for a pay raise from his 2006 salary of $3.65 million to $3.875 million for 2007. The Cubs avoided arbitration with Prior when he settled for a one year $3.575 million contract for 2007.<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2749694 ESPN - Cubs, Prior agree to one-year deal - MLB<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Prior missed the rest of the 2007 season after going through season-ending surgery. After one start in the minors, which he won despite giving up 3 runs, Prior had [[James Andrews (physician)|Dr. James Andrews]], a noted orthopedic surgeon<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCO/is_5_3/ai_81826833 Blading for real: Dr. James Andrews—the surgeon to the superstars—talks about how he puts all your favorite wrestlers back together again | Wrestling Digest | Find Articles at BNET.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> perform "exploratory surgery" on his right shoulder, which, not surprisingly to the fans and media, showed Prior to have structural damage that the Cubs had never properly diagnosed or treated and Dr. Andrews immediately addressed the issues. Interestingly, the Cubs, for the first time in four years, have not counted on either Prior or Wood pitching a game, as waiting on the injury-plagued twosome had proven to be frustrating for the fans, teammates, and the coaching staff. In the offseason the [[Cubs]] signed lefty [[Ted Lilly]] from the Blue Jays and righty [[Jason Marquis]] from the rival Cardinals. Cubs GM [[Jim Hendry]] said that anything provided by Prior or [[Kerry Wood|Wood]] would be "gravy" and he hoped that this would come to fruition.<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2849094 ESPN - Prior out for season after shoulder surgery - MLB<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In June of 2007, Prior was called up to the big league club from Iowa, in order to place him on the 60-day DL and keep him active on the roster. This gave the team more flexibility at the AAA level so that they could keep RHP Angel Guzman in the minors. While Wood made his return to the club on [[August 5]], Prior was non-tendered on [[December 12]] 2007, ending his tenure with the Chicago Cubs.
The San Diego Padres were rumored to pursue him in the offseason [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-arkrioraybeargetedby&prov=rotowire&type=fantasy] and Prior reciprocated his interest in San Diego, where he resides during the offseason [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20071201-9999-1s1padres.html]. The Astros, Reds, Nationals, Mets, and Yankees were other interested teams.
On December 26th, 2007, Prior agreed to a contract with the San Diego Padres. It is a $1 million, one-year, incentive-laden deal.[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3168825] When the 2008 season arrived, he had hoped to pitch again by May or June, but a shoulder tear at the end of May required surgery that forced Prior to miss his second consecutive season.
==Injuries==
{|cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2" width="70%" style="background-color: #083884;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px; line-height:19px;"
|style="font-size: 10px;color: #ffffff;font-weight: bold;" width="10%"| Date
|style="font-size: 10px;color: #ffffff;font-weight: bold;" width="30%"| Injury
|style="font-size: 10px;color: #ffffff;font-weight: bold;" width="15%"| Time Inactive
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
Midseason 2003
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Shoulder after on-field collision with former Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles.
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
3 Starts
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
Preseason 2004
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Achilles tendon injury
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
2 months
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
Preseason 2005
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Elbow strain
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
Several weeks
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
[[May 27]], [[2005]]
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Throwing elbow - comeback line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
Several Weeks
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
Preseason 2006
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Strained shoulder
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
3 Months
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
[[July 14]], [[2006]]
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Strained left oblique in batting practice
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
2 starts
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
[[August 14]], [[2006]]
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Shoulder tendinitis
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
Rest of 2006 Season
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
Spring Training 2007
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Shoulder surgery
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
Entire 2007 Season
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
[[March 26]], [[2008]]
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
Shoulder surgery recovery
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
First part of 2008 season (60 day DL)
|-
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="10%" valign="top"|
[[May 16]], [[2008]]
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="30%" valign="top"|
A tear in the capsule of his pitching shoulder; shoulder surgery
| style="background-color: #ffffff;" width="15%" valign="top"|
Out for another six to eight weeks (60 day DL); out for the entire season
|-
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Baseballstats | mlb=407578 | espn=4936 | br=p/priorma01 | fangraphs=301 | cube=P/Mark-Prior}}
{{Golden Spikes Award}}
{{San Diego Padres roster navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prior, Mark}}
[[Category:1980 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:People from San Diego, California]]
[[Category:University of Southern California alumni]]
[[Category:USC Trojans baseball players]]
[[Category:Golden Spikes Award winners]]
[[Category:Chicago Cubs players]]
[[Category:San Diego Padres players]]
[[Category:Major league pitchers]]
[[ko:마크 프라이어]]
[[ja:マーク・プライアー]]