What if.......

Name: Mark Prior

Card Company: Fleer

Year: 2003

Team: Chicago Cubs

Bats/Throws: R

Ht: 6'5

Mark Prior could’ve been a great pitcher, and for a very brief time he was. However, as many Cubs fans know Mark Prior’s career was cut short by an avalanche of injuries. But what could’ve caused all these injuries, was it his pitching mechanics, a desperate manager or just sheer bad luck. To this day if you ask around Wrigleyville you’ll get a slew of different answers. Then again there might be new Cubs fans that don’t know who Mark Prior was. But I don’t discriminate here, so let’s begin.

Mark Prior was your typical college star pitching prospect with huge upside. Deemed a “can’t miss” prospect by so many scouts, he would be selected 2nd overall by the Chicago Cubs after Minnesota drafted future MVP Joe Mauer. Some noted that his mechanics might cause some concern, but these were brushed under the rug. After only playing 9 games in the minors he would be called up to the Cubs where he would finish his rookie season with a 6-6 record and a 3.32 ERA in 19 starts. Prior had added depth to an already solid Cubs rotation, giving Chicago's North Side something to look forward to. However, nobody could’ve predicted what would happen the following year.

After finishing the 2002 season with a 67-95 record, good enough for last place in the NL Central the Cubs were not expected to do much of anything in 2003. However, led by the dynamic trio of Carlos Zambrano, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood the Cubs would go from worst to first shocking the baseball world. Much attention was payed to Prior and his fellow starter Kerry Wood who were dubbed “Chicago Heat” by Sports Illustrated. Prior was named an all-star in 2003, finishing the year with a 18-6 record with 2.43 ERA. However, there was concern about how many pitches Prior was throwing during the season. Dusty Baker being the old-school manager he is allowed Prior to pitch deep into games even if it meant throwing an insane amount of pitches. In the 2003 season he averaged 113.4 pitches per start and a whopping 120 pitch average in the post-season.

But the Cubs kept winning and thus Prior kept pitching all the way to the NLCS where the Cubs had an opportunity to make the World Series. In game 6 Prior was holding onto a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Florida Marlins. However, after recording the first out in the inning, Prior’s control started to fade as he would give up a double. For those of you that don’t know this is the Steve Bartman game in which the next batter Louis Castillo hit a possible

out, until Cub fan Steve Bartman possibly prevented LF Moises Alou from making a catch in foul territory. Prior would then go on to walk Castillo but not before throwing a wild pitch that allowed the runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd base. The Cubs would fall apart allowing 8 runs in the 8th losing game 6 before losing at home in game 7. I’m sorry Cub fans that I had to bring this up, but this would be the most memorable moment of Mark Prior’s career.

The 2003 season would be the last time Prior would ever be fully healthy. The next 3 years would see Prior get hit by a wave of injuries that would ruin a once promising career. From an Achilles tendon injury in 2004 to getting hit by a 117 MPH come backer that caused a fracture in his shoulder in 2005 Prior couldn’t get a break.

After the 2006 season Prior would never pitch in the major leagues again. His career stat line of (42-29 record) (3.51) (757 SO), shows a promising pitcher that couldn’t stay healthy. Many teams nowadays put their young pitchers on pitch count/innings limits to prevent these types of situations. You saw it recently with both the Nationals and the Mets who shut down both Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey, to protect their future investments. These types of strategies draw the ire of fans, but studies have proven that fan complaints can be quieted when you have a healthy ace pitcher.

Some people might blame his mechanics, some might blame Dusty Baker and others might just chalk it up to luck as to why Prior’s career was so injury riddled. But what can’t be debated is that Mark Prior’s career is one of the biggest “what ifs” in baseball history.

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