Prior Done for the Year (or more)

[NatsAddict]

It's looking like there is another name to add to the "Unable to Return from Torn Labrum" list.

Prior to have season-ending surgery on troublesome right shoulder
Associated Press
Updated: June 1, 2008, 7:22 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Diego Padres pitcher Mark Prior will undergo season-ending surgery on his injured right shoulder, the latest medical setback to a once-promising career.

Padres manager Bud Black announced the decision to operate before Sunday's game against the San Francisco Giants. Prior, one of the top young pitchers in the game for the Chicago Cubs just a few years ago, has not pitched in the majors since Aug. 10, 2006.

He had been trying to make a comeback with his hometown Padres this season, but his rehab process was shut down at extended spring training about two weeks ago when he had more soreness in the shoulder. Prior, 27, had surgery on the same shoulder in April 2007 while with the Cubs.

"I can't imagine how frustrated he is," Black said. "It looked like everything was on course. Then to have this happen I'm sure is extremely frustrating. I'm upset for him just because there was such confidence from him about how he felt."

The operation to repair the anterior capsule in Prior's shoulder will be performed at Scripps Clinic as early as this week by team orthopedics Dr. Heinz Hoenecke and Dr. Jan Fronek.

The Padres won't know when, or if, Prior will be able to pitch again until after the operation.

"I think that will be determined once they go in and see what they have to repair," Black said.

Prior began throwing in January and was slowly making progress in hopes of a return to the majors. As recently as last month, the Padres still hoped Prior could make it back to the mound this season. But he never made it far enough to appear in a game at any level.

"You never know until you really step up the intensity," Black said. "And the fullest test of intensity is game action and he didn't get that far."

Prior, who is 42-29 with a 3.51 ERA in his injury-plagued career, last pitched in 2006 when he went 1-6 with a 7.21 ERA in nine games for the Cubs. He was the second overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft out of Southern California and went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 2003, finishing third in NL Cy Young Award balloting in his first full season in the majors.

But he has made only 57 starts since 2003 because of injuries to his shoulder, elbow, oblique and Achilles.

Black also said that right-hander Cha Seung Baek will start Monday against the Cubs in place of injured lefty Shawn Estes, who broke the thumb on his pitching hand when he fell on the tunnel stairs between the team's clubhouse and dugout Friday in San Francisco.

Baek was acquired last week in a trade with Seattle. He struck out the side in the 12th inning to get the win in his Padres debut on Friday night against the Giants.

ESPN

[ronnynat]

I feel bad for that guy. He could have been a great one.

[NatsAddict]

I feel bad for that guy. He could have been a great one.

Yeah, I know.  I thought I had heard he was showing promise, so this disappointing but not a complete surprise.  That "when, or if" clause in the article sounds rather ominous. 

I don't blame the Padres for taking a risk on him.  I think they got him for dirt, and the upside if he was able to come back even 3/4 of his former self, would have made it one of baseball's best contracts.

[blue911]

I keep thinking of Mark Fidrych. It took them 9 years to figure out what was wrong with his arm and by that time it was too late.

[spidernat]

Some guys are just not able to overcome injury. We had one of those guys and probably have another one now.

[BBQ]

Too bad he and Wood were such good talents. But he can't stay healthy and thats that. It will stop the uneducated fans from saying he is gonna break-out this year.

[BBQ]

On Mike Fidrych:

Unfortunately for Fidrych, he tore the cartilage in his knee fooling around in the outfield during spring training in 1977[1]. He picked up where he left off after his return from the injury, but about six weeks after his return, during a game against Baltimore, he felt his arm just, in his words, "go dead." It was a torn rotator cuff, but it would not be diagnosed until 1985. [2].

Fidrych managed to finish the season 6-4 with a 2.89 ERA and was again invited to the All-Star Game, but he declined the invitation due to injury. He pitched only three games in 1978, winning two. On August 12, 1980, 48,361 fans showed up at Tiger Stadium to see what would be his last attempt to make a comeback. At the end of the 1981 season, Detroit gave Fidrych his outright release and he signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox, playing for one of their minor league teams. However, his torn rotator cuff, still undiagnosed and untreated, never healed. At age 29, he was forced to retire. After seeing everyone from chiropractors to hypnotists, Fidrych went to famed sports doctor James Andrews in 1985. Dr. Andrews discovered the torn rotator cuff, operated, and cleaned out the shoulder. But, the damage already done to the shoulder effectively ended Fidrych's chance of making a comeback.

Fidrych remained cheerful and upbeat. In a 1998 interview, when asked who he would invite to dinner if he could invite anyone in the world, Fidrych said, "My buddy and former Tigers teammate Mickey Stanley, because he's never been to my house."

Today, Mark Fidrych lives on a farm in Northborough, and is also a licensed and working commercial trucker. His family currently owns and runs a diner in Northborough called Chet's Diner.

-Wikipedia

[blue911]

Some guys are just not able to overcome injury. We had one of those guys and probably have another one now.

And part of me wants to dance like a Pooh because he isn't our worry.

[BBQ]

Hill?