Yep, you read that right.
Mark Prior is attempting to make a comeback. Again.
The former Cubs draft pick (maybe the most notorious draft pick ever at No. 2 overall in 2001) spent part of last season with the New York Yankees, appearing at three different levels.
But while the oft-injured pitcher's arm held up last year, it's another issue that's been causing trouble for Prior.
He just had surgery recently for a sports hernia, but the problem apparently is not corrected completely. He's working out in California in an attempt to overcome his physical woes and reignite his pitching career.
Prior's body must just hate him. I don't know what else there could be. I can't recall somebody who has had so many injuries, and all of different kinds. He's had shoulder injuries and hip injuries. He's been on the DL for muscle pulls and arm surgeries. And now a sports hernia on top of all that? An issue, might I add, that is still not fixed after a surgery.
Prior is only 30, but he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2006. He made just one appearance for the Rangers in 2010 on one of his many attempted comebacks, pitching one inning in Triple-A. Last year, he tossed just 12 innings for the Yankees. That makes it 13 professional innings pitched since he was in a Cubs uniform in '06. Ouch.
MLB
You have to tip your hat to him and hope something finally breaks right for him. Nick Cafardo calls Prior the Stephen Strasburg of his day, which is completely true. Prior was so highly regarded coming out of college that people were in an uproar when the Twins took Joe Mauer with the first overall pick in that 2001 draft.
I hope Strasburg -- who has already had Tommy John surgery -- doesn't have the same bad luck with injuries Prior has. I don't wish that on my worst enemy.