Some News Is Bad News

We now have a Mark Prior sighting:

Mark Prior was missing (from the Cubs' clubhouse in Chase Field) and no gear was in his empty locker. He is dealing with a physical setback that has nothing to do with his right shoulder rehab.

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said Prior is battling food poisoning that he picked up here in Arizona. Rothschild added that Prior will resume his throwing program once he is able, but no one can be certain right now when that might be and how long it will take him to feel at full strength again.

No timetable? From food poisoning? Sounds like someone is covering for something else. Notice in the Kiley piece no one states that the food poisoning is the direct reason for the delay.

If you take 4 to 6 weeks from the start of mound throwing to a return to the majors, the earliest one could expect him is July.

What's becoming more and more obvious is that Mark Prior's career may be in jeopardy, and the reason could be his fall 2003 pitching.

I tend to think he's got the same problem Rick Sutcliffe had. Remember, Sut pitched on a bad leg for a year. In doing so, he hurt his shoulder. That could be what happened to Prior in 2003. He had a bad Achilles that summer. It's possible he threw out his arm in the process of pitching through the Achilles problem.

I don't blame Dusty Baker for pitching Prior. I don't blame Mark for trying. Hell, had they won the Series in 2003, I would have been satisfied if Prior never pitched again as he would have been carried off the battlefield on his shoulder. Uh, shield.

Chuckspectations for Prior are now shifted to somewhere between July and never.