Mark Prior realizes there’s a chance he might have thrown his last pitch as a major leaguer, but he’s not ready to call it quits. “I don’t think it’s over,” he said.
“Too easy,” he said last week. “The reality is, I could have made my last pitch in the major leagues. But I need to know for me. And I don’t think it’s over.
It could happen, although it’s been 20 months and two rounds of major shoulder surgery since Mark Prior last pitched in any game.
Later this week, Prior will report with other pitchers and catchers to the Padres spring training camp in Peoria, Ariz.
And the former All-Star is “cautiously optimistic” he’ll be pitching for the Padres this season.
On June 4, Prior underwent his second round of surgery in just more than 13 months. A second straight season had been wiped off the books.
But the longer he is away and the longer he spends in rehab seems only to strengthen Prior’s desire to pitch again in the major leagues.
“I’ve played this games since I was 5,” said the 28-year-old product of University of San Diego High. “I love the game. I respect the game. I want to get back to what I love to do.
Not for Prior at the moment. Although he had offers elsewhere last winter despite his medical history, Prior opted to sign a minor league contract with the Padres – who paid him a $1 million base in 2008.
“I didn’t put a ‘for sale’ sign out,” Prior said. “In September, (agent John) Boggs asked me how I want to handle the situation. My first goal is to be healthy. My second goal is to pitch.
“San Diego was the best place to do it. The Padres have been great with me during what I’ve been going through. I knew they cared and the training staff has been great.
“Baseball is a small percentage of the process. My wife (Heather) has always said, ‘If it’s time to leave, it’s time to leave.’ Ultimately, though, we’re coming back here.
As for answers, Padres General Manager Kevin Towers is hoping Prior is his.
“If he’s healthy, and all the reports thus far are encouraging, Prior is my ace in the hole,” said Towers, who has two gaping holes in his rotation.
When he was healthy, Prior was one of the best pitchers in baseball. In 2003, his first full season in the majors, Prior was 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 30 starts. He had 245 strikeouts and a 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 211 1/3 innings.
At 22, Prior was an All-Star. But his career had already taken a wrong turn.
“It’s been an interesting career. Who’d have known I’d be tackled by Giles’brother (Marcus) on the basepath and hit by a line drive,” Prior said, referring to two incidents that led to injuries.
By 2006, Prior’s problems were mounting.
In April 2007, famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews performed arthroscopic surgery on Prior’s right shoulder – completing three procedures in one operation, including the repair of a 180-degree tear of the labrum and a split in the capsule.
The extensive rehab process continues to this day.
“I’ve had 20 months of addressing the issue every day,” said Prior, who felt he was close to pitching last spring.
And when he re-injured himself, it was a major incident.
Back to surgery. Back to rehab.
And although Prior believes he’s further along this year than last – “I am throwing free and easy with no pain and without thinking about what I’m doing” – he knows it can again end abruptly.
“I have no crystal ball,” Prior said. “I know what I want to do, but I am at the mercy of what my arm says I am. As to when, where and how, I don’t know and I make no promises. But my shoulder feels 95 percent normal again, and it works properly.
“In reality, the second surgery could have been a blessing in disguise. ... And a lot of good things came out of it. I spent quality time with my daughters and developed an appreciation for where I was and what I wanted.
Now there’s a glimmer. Prior is already thinking of how that first/next pitch to a hitter will feel as it leaves his hand.
“If Kurt Warner can disappear for five years, I can disappear for three,” he said.