Hope died of natural causes a few weeks ago at Wrigley Field, so the news that the lowly Milwaukee Brewers had completed a sweep of the Cubs on Sunday didn’t so much as rustle a cornstalk here.
It says a lot about what the Cubs’ season has become that the only story that matters in Chicago was standing on a mound in Des Moines on Sunday. Why Mark Prior was wearing an Iowa Cubs uniform and blowing into his fist to keep his hand warm is a question that finally was answered in the fifth inning:
He was building “Cubs life experience.”
Prior was cruising along against the Las Vegas 51’s when disaster struck. Actually, disaster got on base on an error. Prior struck out two in the inning, watched his fielders make three errors, gave up a two-run home run, hit a batter and walked two others.
You’re ready, kid.
Prior will be in a Chicago uniform soon because President Andy MacPhail apparently has realized that there’s a momentum to this kid that can’t be stopped and that–I want to make sure I get the wording just right here–the Cubs are really, really pathetic. MacPhail was on hand to watch Prior pitch Sunday, and he admitted that he has had to rethink his philosophy toward gently transporting the rookie to the big leagues. The Cubs are so bad that Prior could be called up this week.
“The one thing I’ve been trying to avoid, and it looks like I’m going to walk right into it, is trying to make this kid the savior,” MacPhail said. “I really try to dampen expectations. He’s got enough of a load on his shoulders.
” . . . If the major-league team is struggling and now he’s got to be the white knight that rides in, we’re really asking a lot. It had been our hope and our idea to ease him in, and based on our major-league club’s performance to date, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to ease him in.”
Look, you can’t be a savior if there’s nothing to save. Prior will be a lot of things–a nice pitcher, a gate attraction, a hitter to be reckoned with–but he won’t be viewed as a savior. No one in his right mind believes that a 21-year-old pitcher–even this 21-year-old pitcher–can turn around a season that already is corkscrewed into the ground. And anyway, Fred McGriff still has the nail marks from fans to prove he was supposed to be the Chosen One.
“I just hope the focus remains on what they’re doing up there and not on my getting called up,” Prior said. “The [Cubs] shouldn’t have to worry about that. If the fans think I’m a savior, that’s fine, but they also have to understand that I’m one of 25 guys. I can’t do it all.”
Surely, Prior was reacting to comments made by Cubs pitcher Jason Bere, who recently said it would be better if discussion topics dealt with players who actually are in the big leagues. That group presumably would include Bere, who has a 1-5 record and a 6.62 earned-run average.
Prior is ready for all this. He already is more professional and mature than the large group of big-leaguers who think PlayStation II is a science course requirement.
What separates Prior from many other young pitchers is that he has learned how to pitch. He has an evil curveball and a changeup he’s not afraid to use. The effort he puts on his fastball is so smooth and so easy that he makes 94 m.p.h. look like a Sunday drive with the family.
He also can hit. After homering twice in his first start in Iowa, he ripped a three-run triple in the second inning Sunday. The music that greeted him as he came to bat was the theme from “The Natural.” Prior, slightly embarrassed by it, said that will have to stop.
“We might be hitting him seventh,” MacPhail said, laughing.
I see him in the four hole.
Prior pitched 4 2/3 innings Sunday, struck out 10, didn’t give up an earned run and didn’t get the decision in an 8-5 Iowa victory. Much of it is meaningless, in that this is a staging area, a place for Prior to keep busy. In two starts here he already has proven that this cage can’t contain him. MacPhail should have been here to pick up Prior, like a father bringing his son home from college.
I just hope that the Cubs’ tendency to crash spectacularly isn’t contagious and that the moment Prior puts on a Chicago uniform, he doesn’t tear a rotator cuff. Bare minimum, though, the guy breaks out in a rash.
A minor-league journey
Here is a look at Mark Prior’s statistics through Sunday’s appearance in Des Moines:
TEAM W L PCT ERA G GS IP H R ER HR SH HB BB SO
Iowa Cubs 1 0 1.000 0.00 2 2 12.1 7 1 0 0 1 1 6 20
West Tenn
Diamond Jaxx 4 1 .800 2.60 6 6 34.2 26 16 10 0 2 2 10 55
%%
%%
