Mark Prior

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This article is about the Major League Baseball pitcher. For the United States Senator with a similar name, see Mark Pryor.

**Mark Prior**

Chicago Cubs — No. 22
Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
May 22, 2002 for the Chicago Cubs
Selected MLB statistics (through 2006)
Wins-Losses	42 - 29
ERA	3.51
Strikeouts	757

Mark William Prior (born September 7, 1980 in San Diego, California, USA) is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Iowa Cubs, the Class AAA affiliate of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs.

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.

1 College career
2 Major League career and success
3 Setbacks from injuries
4 External links

[edit] College career

He would go on to attend USC, where he won the Golden Spikes Award (he attended his father's alma mater, Vanderbilt University, for his freshman year), given annually to the best collegiate baseball player in the U.S. After becoming a professional baseball player, he continued his education on a part-time basis and received a business degree from USC Marshall School of Business in 2004.

[edit] Major League career and success

Prior re-entered the draft and was the 2nd overall pick in 2001 (Prior was considered by some to be the top prospect in the draft, but the Minnesota Twins, who had the top pick, were warned that Prior didn't want to play for them [1] and chose hometown phenom Joe Mauer instead). After a short stay in the minor leagues, Prior made his Major League debut on May 22, 2002, finishing his rookie season with a 6-6 record.

In 2003, he 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. Due to the collision, both Prior and Giles were forced to miss the 2003 All-Star Game, to which they had been selected to perform in.

After Prior's stint on the disabled list came to an end, he compiled a 10-1 record, leading the Cubs into the playoffs, where they beat the Braves in the first round before losing to the eventual World Series Champion Florida Marlins in the NLCS despite a tightly contested seven game battle. Prior was on the mound for the infamous Steve Bartman incident.

[edit] Setbacks from injuries

Prior was forced to miss the first two months of the 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'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. Ironically, Hawpe, when playing for LSU in the 2000 College World Series, hit a three-run home run off Prior that eliminated USC from contention that year. Prior finished 11-7 in 27 starts.

During the 2005 off-season, 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, he went to Los Angeles to get an MRI. Though final results weren't expected until March 18, 2006, it was announced on March 16 that Prior had a strained shoulder. On March 28, 2006, it was announced Prior was being placed on the 15 day DL, effectively missing the start of the 2006 MLB season. His 2006 debut came about on June 18th, when he was shelled by the Detroit Tigers, giving up 6 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 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 (for which he earned a no-decision). Three games later, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he got his first win.

On August 14, Prior was again placed on the disabled list (tendonitis) for the remainder of the season. He finished 2006 with a 1-6 record and a 7.21 ERA. 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 $3.65 million 2006 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. [2]