Prior?

by gibbyfan on Sep 18, 2007 3:49 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

Ok I was reading this mornings main thread, and it's all about pitching. This just got me thinking what ever happend to Mark Prior? I'm not saying the cardinals should go get him (god forbid another broken down pitcher), but what happend to him. I know he got hurt (big surprise) last year, but I thought he was supposed to be healthy this year. Just asking.

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THIS

is a diary???

Couldn't you Google the guy's name or something?

by silent_bob on Sep 18, 2007 3:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Prior

He went down with shoulder problems in the Spring.

His career is over if he doesn't rebuild his mechanics from scratch.

by thepainguy on Sep 18, 2007 4:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ehhh

It really wasn't mechanics as much as I thought on first glance awhile back. It's actually pretty minor mechanically: so much so that it was probably the fact that he had dead tissue in his shoulder that was causing the mechanical small issues in the first place.

Cheeseburger in paradise.

by joker24 on Sep 18, 2007 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mark Prior's Mechanics

Mark Prior may have the worst mechanics in all of recorded history.

The dead tissue in his shoulder is the effect of his problems, not the cause.

by thepainguy on Sep 18, 2007 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

that is so freaking funny to me

because when he was a rookie all every one heard was how perfect prior mechanics were. and that he would never have any arm, elbow or shoulder problems because of said perfect mechanics.

now his mecahnics are the worst ever. too freakin funny.

btw, how did he go from having the most perfect mechanics ever to having the worst mechanics ever?

I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson And That's A Winner!

by gdm426 on Sep 18, 2007 8:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Improvements

in the understanding of how the human arm throws a baseball.

I think everybody just got fooled when Prior came up because his mechanics were so freakin' smooth. Looked effortless, then, bam! 95 mph on the black.

But if you look at him frame-by-frame, you see a couple of things. 1) His throwing elbow gets above the line of his shoulders, which some believe puts undo stress on the rotator cuff. 2) At foot strike, his pitching side forearm is hanging straight down, instead of being up, perpendicular to his shoulders. Again, a lot of folks believe this position puts a ton of unnecessary stress on the elbow/UCL.

by Jhusk on Sep 18, 2007 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well thank you

that explains a lot.

the only reason i find it funny is he's a flub and said he hats the Cards. believe me, if he was a Dback i would not find it funny at all. hope that does not make me a bad person.

I'm going to go try to find a puppy and kick it. - Brad Thompson And That's A Winner!

by gdm426 on Sep 18, 2007 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Mark Prior's Mechanics

What people seem to forget is that the guy (named Tom House) who proclaimed that Mark Prior had perfect mechanics was also Mark Prior's pitching coach and designed Mark Prior's mechanics.

He's not exactly a completely objective, independent voice.

by thepainguy on Sep 18, 2007 8:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

actually chris

He was the focus of Will Carroll's book "Saving the Pitcher" too. Will Carroll had a man crush on his mechanics.

It was funny because that was the first book I bought when starting to research pitching mechanics then when I read how much he praised Prior for his mechanics I never finished the book because I figured having Prior as the focus of a Injury Prevention book was kinda laughable.

by rocKStark5 on Sep 19, 2007 9:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

...long term injurys

Prior blew his shoulder out in HS in San Diego and was told to shut down, he didnt and his situation are the results stretched out over about 7 years of listening to a college and then a pro ball coach (House) telling him his high elbow was no problem since he'd pitched that way for years without the HS injury(s) re-surfacing.....that was around 2002/03.

That and the horrible, terrible, bad Cubbie-curse type luck on the field as indicated by the timeline below. The strains and tendinitis speak to mechanics.

Midseason 2003
Shoulder after on-field collision with Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles.
3 Starts

Preseason 2004
Achilles tendon injury
2 months

Preseason 2005
Elbow strain
Several weeks

May 27, 2005
Throwing elbow - comeback line drive off the bat of Brad Hawpe
Several Weeks

Preseason 2006
Strained shoulder
3 Months

July 14, 2006
Strained left oblique in batting practice
2 starts

Aug 14, 2006
Shoulder tendinitis
Rest of 2006 Season

Preseason 2007
Shoulder surgery
Entire 2007 Season

Youth movement or not, I want Carpenter, Speezio JEd and Rolen back in '08...yeah, those old guys that play the game like pros.

by cardschinmusic on Sep 19, 2007 5:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs