Bleed Cubbie Blue

Watching Mark Prior

I was tipped to this post by baseballmusings.com. BCB watched Mark Prior pitch in a scrimmage Friday morning, and has many interesting things to say about his condition, his apparent confidence, and his stuff (not as impressive as Jason Marquis’s).

He also posts some pictures of Prior on the mound that make him look wan, to say the least.

This is good stuff, but it doesn’t knock me off my main point about Prior this spring. He’s working his way back. It may take a few weeks, it could take a lot longer. But he doesn’t have to be the same pitcher he was before to win again in the major leagues.

As his price plummets he’s the sort of guy to grab late in the day. This report makes me a little less confident that things are going to work out this year, but despite the good intentions I know that a lot of what looks like one thing in March becomes something different in May. That’s a reason to dog talent, even when it looks this crippled.