Throwin' the towel

Mark Prior threw his towel again Saturday in Mesa. After that, the Cubs told everyone that Prior is fine and the problem was an illness that hospitalized him back around Christmas. I say this to the Chicago National League Ballclub: "I don't believe a word of what you are telling me about Mark Prior."

In 2004 the Cubs said Prior had an achilles problem, last spring he had a heel issue followed by inflammation in his right elbow. Both times the Cubs told us during spring that everything would be okay. What happened? In 2004 Prior did not pitch until June, in 2005 Prior did not pitch until April 13th.

Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus reported in his "Under the Knife" column that Prior is again having troubles with his right shoulder. Here's what Carroll wrote:

You can't have spring training anymore without pitcher problems or at least rumors of said problems. Those usually start with the Cubs, and this year is no different. Reliable sources--the same ones that tipped us early to Mark Prior's Achilles problem--now tell us that Prior is having shoulder problems. The Cubs deny this and point to Prior's work on the mound. Prior was doing towel drills on Saturday, but this is the same type of work he was doing last year when there was a problem. According to our best sources in Mesa, Prior looks "weak and sick." Until he throws, we just won't know, though I'd like to believe Larry Rothschild.

Carroll's report corroborates a rumor reported by 1060west's Thunderclap Newman on January 22, 2006. Newman told us that a reliable source told him:

Mark Prior's right shoulder is bothering him.

Newman's report on this site led to a firestorm from Cub fans who live in a world of denial. Well now we have Prior again throwing towels and being put on a different schedule than all of Cubs healthy pitchers. Looking at the history of Mark Prior and the history of what the Cubs brass tells us about him, it's pretty easy to figure that once again he is injured.

It really is funny how a ballclub that is owned by a media communications company is unable to communicate through the media. The lies that have poured out of the Cubs training room just in regards to Prior are numerous. There is no reason to think that this is any different.