Is Mark Prior Done For Good?

In the tragic saga of former Cub wunderkind Mark Prior, today’s news, via MLBTR, may be the ending note. From MLB.com’s Corey Brock: Hearing the Padres will release RHP Mark Prior from his Minor League contract, possibly as soon as today. Hasn’t thrown since April. That’s really too bad. I loved Prior when he came to the Cubs. When he pitched, I had to watch. I called in to work twice so I could go watch him pitch. It was almost an obsession for me. That smooth motion, the easy 95 MPH, that nasty hard curve, the biting slider…he was a phenomenal talent, and my favorite team had him. And then the injuries happened. They seemed always to be freakish cases, one in a million shot-type injuries. But they kept popping up. And then his arm went. The upshot of those events was that Prior got pegged—unfairly, in my opinion—as a headcase, a guy who wouldn’t pitch unless he was 100% pain-free. I think if we knew the reality, it would be quite the opposite; shoulder problems as extensive and devastating as his don’t just pop up out of nowhere. I think it’s highly probable that Mark Prior pitched through a great deal of pain during much of his career. A lot of Cub fans seem to be openly antagonistic towards Prior, but I just can’t bring myself to that level. I liked him too much and I really feel bad for him. Yeah, he was aloof and kind of cocky. Yeah, his dad was a first class d-bag, Little League Parent stereotype. But for all that, Mark Prior is one of the greatest pitching talents we’ll ever see, and personally, I’ll always remember him more like this: Than this: