Concerned Now?

It appears Mark Prior suffered an injury last September and its still bothering him going into Spring Training.

"I had it last year from the beginning of September on," Prior said Monday. "We just treated it and fought through it. When I started working out again in January on the mound, it fired back up. I got here and it got inflamed and basically they want me to get rid of it before I go (into the regular season). I'm just going to take time when I have time."

It's Prior's right foot, which he uses to push off the rubber, and he can feel the Achilles pinching.

Any injury that doesn't require surgery, and hasn't healed in 5-6 months is a concern. The good thing is Prior and the trainer say its a minor injury.

"It's a minor thing, but it's something that I don't want to get serious," Prior said. "It's not something I'm taking lightly, but I'm not going to miss any time in the regular season."

"If it was the season right now, could he go out and pitch? Absolutely," Cubs trainer Dave Groeschner said. "We're being pretty aggressive with treatment right now, and if it was the season, we'd get him out there to pitch. We have the opportunity right now to get rid of this."

Which brings me back to, if they couldn't get rid of it in 5-6 months how are they gonna get rid of the same problem in a month?

And is it just a coincidence that Prior may have injured his Achilles on September 1st, with a 7-0 lead over the Cardinals, Dusty Baker made Mark Prior go back out there in the 8th inning to balloon his pitch count to 131 for the game. I am most critical of that game because Prior looked totally gassed after he left in the 8th inning.

I remember making a post after that start to say Prior needed to be rested when given the chance. He is not superhuman, he is not god, he is not a robot, he can be injured. It was after all only his 5th start since coming off the DL, and he has never had this kind of workload either.

Also the usually economical pitch counts of Prior disappeared after Sept 1st.

Sept 1st - 8.0 IP - 131 P
Sept 6th - 7.0 IP - 129 P
Sept 11th - 5.2 IP - 110 P
Sept 16th - 8.2 IP - 124 P
Sept 21st - 7.2 IP - 131 P
Sept 27th - 6.2 IP - 133 P

Yes he had other months with 120+ pitch count games but only in the month of September did he have 5 of 6 starts over 120 pitches thrown. Was he laboring because of the injury? Again their is no way to tell. It didn't affect his over all numbers or his ability to win. I just think this gives more recognition that you need to rest Prior when given the chance. I am sure that massive work load he had down the stretch didn't help matters with his Achilles.