Padres Release The Oft-Injured Mark Prior

by Matt Buggenhagen on Aug 1, 2009 8:49 PM EDT

The sad story that is Mark Prior continued today, when the Padres released the oft-injured right-hander, this according to Corey Brock of MLB.com.

Prior was trying to make a comeback to the major leagues after having two major shoulder surgeries in the last three years, but an unexpected setback in the rehab process forced the Padres to finally cut their ties.

Prior to his release he was rehabbing at the Padres spring training facility in Arizona, but he'd never reached the point where he was facing live batters.

Prior was at one time considered a cant miss prospect, when he was selected number two overall in the 2001 draft, behind the Twins Joe Mauer. To put it into prospective he was basically the Stephen Strasburg of his time.

He hasn't pitched at the major league level since 2006, but before that Prior had recorded 613 innings between 2002-2005,. During that span Prior had an ERA of 3.24 ERA, including 2003, when he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA.

This is really a story about a kid who was blessed beyond belief with ability, a kid who had the chance to be one of the best pitchers of his generation. However, his inability to remain healthy for any length of time has all but ended his major league career.

For Prior's sake I hope all works out well. By all accounts he seems like a good guy who's been working tirelessly to get back to the big leagues. We can only hope this story ends well for Prior, but it's certainly not looking that way.

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Prior

will always remain to me as the prospect, the guy who made me care about the draft and prospects.

"If we never try, we shall never succeed." - Abraham Lincoln

Purple Row - Covering all your Rockies needs!

by Russ Oates on Aug 1, 2009 10:28 PM EDT reply actions

Dusty Baker

http://irudey.mybrute.com/
Fun little Time waster!

by Rudey on Aug 1, 2009 10:36 PM EDT reply actions

no kidding

“inability to remain healthy” could be changed to “inability not to be overworked in his early twenties”

"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"

by jessef on Aug 1, 2009 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions

+1000000000000000000000000

by cuseindahuse on Aug 2, 2009 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Sad

But I wouldn’t lay blame completely on Dusty. The Cubs made a run at the World Series and the organization leaned on him, perhaps a little bit more than they should have. But in the end, he just proved to be less than durable. That and a couple of freak injuries hardly make it Dusty’s fault alone.

Pitch counts never mattered until everything got more specialized anyway. Tim Lincecum is used pretty much the same way Prior was. Some people can handle the rigors of major league pitching, and the Mark Priors of the world cannot. Definitely a disappointing end (if it’s really the end) to what should have been a long, successful career.

by Hood on Aug 2, 2009 7:39 AM EDT reply actions

by The_Fan on Aug 2, 2009 6:52 PM EDT reply actions

Very disappointing

I was never a fan of teams he was on, but I’ve always liked him, even when my team was facing him. I wish the best for him, maybe he’ll be able to come back some day. I’d like it.

Your sig here.

by miramarjuice on Aug 2, 2009 11:24 PM EDT reply actions