That is the sound you hear off in the distance today. Cardinal fans laughing. While it's not yet known how long the Cubs might be without Derrek Lee, it's almost certain that Prior is out for an extended period of time.
Prior is in L.A. for an MRI to get his sore shoulder looked at. But even if it is merely soreness, he has yet to throw in a game this spring. If the Cubs were being careful before I can only guess Prior will be taking the mound in armor and a sealproof bubble upon his return.
So with his spring likely over he would need to go to the minors for some work before he is ready to pitch in the bigs. And that's assuming that he is diagnosed with just soreness and no internal damage. I don't see how he could pitch before May in a best case scenario.
If you consider that Wood and Prior will miss time and now Lee is banged up, the Cardinals might as well take the first 60 games off. They likely have the division in hand and it's not even April yet.
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4 comments:
You think Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus is smirking a bit today? He was the one who said that his sources had told him Prior looked weak in AZ and that something might be wrong.
I mean, is anyone really surprised that something is wrong? Then again there's part of me that thinks Prior just stops at any sign of pain, and that he's so worried about the long-term viability of his golden goose right arm that he doesn't know to be an actual PITCHER--you know, someone who pitches for a living. At some point he'll no longer be young and with a future to think about, and the years will have gone by without him playing very much. Maybe this is harsh. If it turns out to be serious, well then, shame on me. But I will continue to doubt his toughness until he shows me otherwise. I just can't help thinking that maybe if he didn't coddle himself so much he'd actually be able to participate one of these springs.
PV
I agree--to an extent. 2 of his injuries were definitely not due to softness: The collision on the basepaths and the liner off the elbow. But most curious to me is how someone could rest for an entire offseason and feel shoulder soreness right away. Year-end physicals should be able to determine what his deal was. So maybe you are absolutely right.
Phil Rogers talks about pitch counts today.
Sure, the Cards will win the division, but do they have the horses to make it to, and win, the World Series? I don't see it.
The Cards will win another 90 or 100 games and stink up the post season. LaRussa is good at the day in day out game. He's won 100 games with three different teams (right?) But the fans in St Louis must be totally embarassed by recent Octobers. It must hurt.
Prior or Wood it's the same thing. You may be overpowering, if it comes naturally on any given day that's great. When you try to be overpowering and it isn't happening, that's when you get hurt.
Strike out pitchers will customarily wind up with won loss records around .500. Sure they'll have great games but not many solid years. Remember you don't have to be a strike out pitcher at Wrigley, make the oposition hit the peanut on the ground is the gig.
Now if the Cubs could build just one solid second baseman out of the three on the roster....
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