rockin500
02-26-2006, 10:10 PM
MESA, Ariz. -- Mark Prior may have to win 30 games, lead the National League in every pitching category -- maybe even saves -- stop the world's hunger problems, help resurrect the city of New Orleans and make it rain at least one day in Arizona to quiet his critics.
Prior, who might throw off the mound for the first time this spring on Friday, has come to terms with the high expectations placed on him.
"I understand I'll be held up to the status of what I did at the end of 2003," the Chicago Cubs pitcher said Thursday. "I expect myself to be that type of pitcher each year. Will I do it the way I did it in 2003? That's tough to do, to go down the stretch and go 10-1 with a mid-1.00 ERA.
"Do I feel I can win 18, 19, 20 games over the course of a season and hopefully be healthy? Yeah, I think I can do that on a regular basis," he said. "The year you win 14 games, some critics will say, 'He didn't have a good year.' Last year, I was 11-7, and I'm not happy with that record."
Last year was interrupted by a line drive by Colorado's Brad Hawpe off Prior's right elbow on May 27.
"It was such a tale of two or three seasons, because I felt I started strong and was pitching well and then the injury to my elbow and the middle third [of the season] was spent trying to come back from that," he said. "The latter third, I don't know if it was too much of what happened the first two-thirds or I wasn't getting it done. I won't say I was tired mentally, but I don't know if things were responding as well and it took more thought.
"I also feel there were a dozen games -- some of them I won, some I lost -- but a lot of them I felt there was one instance if it would've gone my way, not that I'm asking for luck, but in a lot of those situations, I could've done something different to help the cause. I could've easily won close to 15, 16 games. It was a tough ending, and I didn't like the way I finished."
Prior was 1-2 in his final five starts and had difficulty going deep in games because of high pitch counts. Did he ever feel in sync?
"I did in May [before being hit]," he said. "That type of injury, it's tough to get back in sync. At times I felt good, and I'd go three, four innings and feel good, and then something would happen -- if it was a mental thing or a physical thing or a combination of both -- and I let something slip and I let in two or three runs and let them back in the game. I don't think I had the aggressive attack mode that I had in April and May."
He hopes to address that this season, but fans won't see any dramatic adjustments to the 25-year-old pitcher's mechanics.
"I'm not going to put my hands over my head or anything like that," Prior said. "There might be [a change in] pitch selection philosophy I have about how I go about getting hitters out."
Which might help Prior shake the label of being too fine.
"I definitely think I need to have more of an aggressive, not attitude, but aggressive nature in my pitch calling and not wait for them to make a mistake but me kind of try to force the issue on their part more," he said. "Does that mean I throw more inside or more offspeed or whatever? That'll be determined by who you're facing and what type of year that person is having.
"I think once I get rolling, there will be game plans and strategy issues that I'll look at and try to do differently than I did in the last couple years."
And those adjustments should help him keep his pitch count in check. He doesn't need any more games like his Aug. 4 start against Philadelphia, when he threw 101 pitches over 4 1/3 innings.
Prior has had to deal with plenty of hype since he was drafted second overall in June 2001. Anyone who goes 15-1 in their final college season, especially at a baseball powerhouse like USC, gets extra attention. In his first full season with the Cubs, in 2003, Prior won 18 games, was named to the All-Star team and closed with a 10-1 record and 1.52 ERA.
In his short career, he's been rumored to be traded twice, prepped for Tommy John surgery and this spring was reported to be "weak and sick."
"In this day and age, if you can put something in some realistic or plausible scenario, eventually something will stick or might stick," Prior said. "If it makes enough sense, people might believe it."
The author of the latest rumor credited a source as "someone who knows what Prior does in the offseason." Does that mean there's a spy in Prior's circle of friends?
"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was unnerving -- unnerving from the standpoint of somebody who knows me who would give that kind of information," he said.
Prior even got some flack after saying he liked playing in Chicago and not specifying the Cubs during the Cubs Convention.
Still, there are the high expectations. Ever since Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters on May 6, 1998, he's had to deal with it.
"I think it's fair for fans to expect us to go out and compete and give them everything we can each year and be the best we can be," Prior said. "Obviously, Woody had a marvelous rookie year [in 1998], and he's had his elbow problems and another good couple years and he's struggled the last couple years. I know I came in with a lot of attention and notoriety because of what I did my last year in college and where I was drafted.
"But [all the attention] also is a byproduct of where we play," he said. "We're in Chicago, one of the biggest markets outside of New York. It comes with the territory of the team that we're on. You have to respect that attention."
Prior, who might throw off the mound for the first time this spring on Friday, has come to terms with the high expectations placed on him.
"I understand I'll be held up to the status of what I did at the end of 2003," the Chicago Cubs pitcher said Thursday. "I expect myself to be that type of pitcher each year. Will I do it the way I did it in 2003? That's tough to do, to go down the stretch and go 10-1 with a mid-1.00 ERA.
"Do I feel I can win 18, 19, 20 games over the course of a season and hopefully be healthy? Yeah, I think I can do that on a regular basis," he said. "The year you win 14 games, some critics will say, 'He didn't have a good year.' Last year, I was 11-7, and I'm not happy with that record."
Last year was interrupted by a line drive by Colorado's Brad Hawpe off Prior's right elbow on May 27.
"It was such a tale of two or three seasons, because I felt I started strong and was pitching well and then the injury to my elbow and the middle third [of the season] was spent trying to come back from that," he said. "The latter third, I don't know if it was too much of what happened the first two-thirds or I wasn't getting it done. I won't say I was tired mentally, but I don't know if things were responding as well and it took more thought.
"I also feel there were a dozen games -- some of them I won, some I lost -- but a lot of them I felt there was one instance if it would've gone my way, not that I'm asking for luck, but in a lot of those situations, I could've done something different to help the cause. I could've easily won close to 15, 16 games. It was a tough ending, and I didn't like the way I finished."
Prior was 1-2 in his final five starts and had difficulty going deep in games because of high pitch counts. Did he ever feel in sync?
"I did in May [before being hit]," he said. "That type of injury, it's tough to get back in sync. At times I felt good, and I'd go three, four innings and feel good, and then something would happen -- if it was a mental thing or a physical thing or a combination of both -- and I let something slip and I let in two or three runs and let them back in the game. I don't think I had the aggressive attack mode that I had in April and May."
He hopes to address that this season, but fans won't see any dramatic adjustments to the 25-year-old pitcher's mechanics.
"I'm not going to put my hands over my head or anything like that," Prior said. "There might be [a change in] pitch selection philosophy I have about how I go about getting hitters out."
Which might help Prior shake the label of being too fine.
"I definitely think I need to have more of an aggressive, not attitude, but aggressive nature in my pitch calling and not wait for them to make a mistake but me kind of try to force the issue on their part more," he said. "Does that mean I throw more inside or more offspeed or whatever? That'll be determined by who you're facing and what type of year that person is having.
"I think once I get rolling, there will be game plans and strategy issues that I'll look at and try to do differently than I did in the last couple years."
And those adjustments should help him keep his pitch count in check. He doesn't need any more games like his Aug. 4 start against Philadelphia, when he threw 101 pitches over 4 1/3 innings.
Prior has had to deal with plenty of hype since he was drafted second overall in June 2001. Anyone who goes 15-1 in their final college season, especially at a baseball powerhouse like USC, gets extra attention. In his first full season with the Cubs, in 2003, Prior won 18 games, was named to the All-Star team and closed with a 10-1 record and 1.52 ERA.
In his short career, he's been rumored to be traded twice, prepped for Tommy John surgery and this spring was reported to be "weak and sick."
"In this day and age, if you can put something in some realistic or plausible scenario, eventually something will stick or might stick," Prior said. "If it makes enough sense, people might believe it."
The author of the latest rumor credited a source as "someone who knows what Prior does in the offseason." Does that mean there's a spy in Prior's circle of friends?
"I'd be lying if I didn't say it was unnerving -- unnerving from the standpoint of somebody who knows me who would give that kind of information," he said.
Prior even got some flack after saying he liked playing in Chicago and not specifying the Cubs during the Cubs Convention.
Still, there are the high expectations. Ever since Kerry Wood struck out 20 batters on May 6, 1998, he's had to deal with it.
"I think it's fair for fans to expect us to go out and compete and give them everything we can each year and be the best we can be," Prior said. "Obviously, Woody had a marvelous rookie year [in 1998], and he's had his elbow problems and another good couple years and he's struggled the last couple years. I know I came in with a lot of attention and notoriety because of what I did my last year in college and where I was drafted.
"But [all the attention] also is a byproduct of where we play," he said. "We're in Chicago, one of the biggest markets outside of New York. It comes with the territory of the team that we're on. You have to respect that attention."