Not big news but, Mark Prior to have season ending should surgery...

[SirFelixCat]

Such a shame. Such perfect mechanics too. It had to have been a leg/hip injury that caused him to alter his delivery. Even though he's a Cub, the guy was/is a pleasure to watch pitch.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....s-sports-print

Dr James Andrews is keeping busy

Mark Prior will undergo exploratory surgery on his shoulder Tuesday and is likely to miss the rest of the season.

Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery. "He's had some discomfort for a couple years," GM Jim Hendry said. "It's finally gotten to a point where it's probably the right decision to let one of the best people in the world go and have a look around to see if anything can maybe be fixed, if it doesn't need something major. Dr. Andrews has the clearance if something needs to be fixed or tightened up." Even if no major problems are discovered, it's unlikely that Prior will get into a game this season.

[jfleur87]

discomfort for a couple years? being so young, why wouldn't they have just done this a long time ago

[Razor Shines]

Whatever it is I hope it's able to be taken care of and he's able to come back and have a nice career. I have a feeling that he's not ever going to be the pitcher he once was though.

[hebroncougar]

Originally Posted by Razor Shines

Whatever it is I hope it's able to be taken care of and he's able to come back and have a nice career. I have a feeling that he's not ever going to be the pitcher he once was though.

Agree, loved to watch Prior pitch, unless it was against the Reds. Chalk up another arm to Dusty Baker's ignorance.

[Heath]

I think Mark Prior has seen the twilight of his career.

Too bad.

[UC_Ken]

This goes to show you there is no such thing as a sure thing young pitcher. He had the body type and mechanics that said that he'd never have any injury problems but his career looks over at a very young age. As good as Homer's been Prior was much more of a can't miss than Homer is. If Homer ends up being what he's supposed to be then we'll be lucky. When projecting young pitchers you need both talent and luck. You never know until they've proven it if the pitcher will end up being what everyone expected.

[CTA513]

The Cubs also placed Wade Miller on the DL with back spasms.

[shredda2000]

Originally Posted by CTA513

The Cubs also placed Wade Miller on the DL with back spasms.

Wonder if they would take Uncle Milty?

[Natty Redlocks]

Originally Posted by shredda2000

Wonder if they would take Uncle Milty?

Nope

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by CTA513

The Cubs also placed Wade Miller on the DL with back spasms.

Wow. Commence the annual standings free-fall.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by paintmered

Wow. Commence the annual standings free-fall.

At least it's a short fall from 6th place.

[Degenerate39]

He's a good pitcher but I'm glad we don't have to play against him this year.

[cumberlandreds]

As a baseball fan I really hate this. Even though he was a Cub I enjoyed watching him pitch. Like others have said I believe he has seen his last pitch in the majors.

[Always Red]

Even with "perfect mechanics" pitching baseball is a violent motion that will stress any shoulder, elbow and forearm.

I've got to think that someday some type of test, exam or imaging study will be developed that will show which arms might be able to stand up to the rigors, and which will not. If I had the money that the teams throw away on pitching every year, I'd be putting at least a fraction of that money into some kind of research, rather than just throwing it away on a guess, year after year.

As far as Mark Prior goes, it sounds as if they don't have a diagnosis, given as how they're going to let Doc Andrews go in there and "have a look around to see if anything can maybe be fixed." That sounds pretty ominous to me, as generally surgery is done after a diagnosis has been made, not in order to render a diagnosis, especially when it comes to musculoskeletal injuries.

[bucksfan2]

I wonder if this whole process could have been avoided if they would have went in and cleaned it out in the first place. He may have missed one season early on but not missing year after year.