Prior Expected Back in Peoria Saturday
May 31, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Peoria Chiefs News Release
PEORIA, IL-The Peoria Chiefs in conjunction with the Chicago Cubs have announced that barring any medical setbacks in the next two days Cubs right-hander Mark Prior will continue his rehab with the Chiefs Saturday night June 3rd. Game time at O'Brien Field is 6:30 as the Chiefs host the Fort Wayne Wizards in game three of a five game set.
Individual Game Tickets for all customers for the Mark Prior rehab are currently on sale via the O'Brien Field Box Office, over the phone at 1-866-MYTICKET (1-866-698-4253) or via the web at www.peoriachiefs.com. There are still Club Box, Box Seats and Lawn tickets left for Saturday's contest. Saturday is Nerd Night and there will be in-game entertainment from Myron Noodleman and a post-game fireworks show. The Box Office at O'Brien Field will be open at 10:00 AM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Prior started the Chiefs game on Monday against Kane County and suffered the loss after allowing three runs (2 earned) on four hits in two innings of work. He tossed 44 pitches, 28 for strikes while mostly working on locating his fastball. It his not yet known what his pitch count will be on Saturday. Prior has been on the Disabled List all season with a muscle strain in his right shoulder.
The 25-year old righthander has a 41-23 career record and a 3.24 ERA in 97 career starts with the Cubs. The 2nd overall pick of the 2001 draft out of Southern California, broke into the big leagues May 22nd, 2002. In the 2002 season, the rookie was 6-6 in 19 starts with a 3.32 ERA. His breakout season was in 2003 when Prior went 13-6 in 30 starts with three complete games and a shutout. He posted a 2.43 ERA with 245 strikeouts in 211 1/3 innings while leading the Cubs to the NLCS. He won his only 2003 NLDS start with a complete game two-hitter against Atlanta. He then beat Florida in Game Two of the NLCS before being saddled with the loss in Game Six.
In 2004, Mark went 6-4 in just 21 starts. In the 2005 season, Prior was 11-7 in 27 starts with a complete game and 188 strikeouts in 166 2/3 innings. Prior landed on the DL twice in the 2005 season. The first time was at the beginning of the season with elbow inflammation and the second was May 28th after taking a line drive off the arm. For his career, Prior has 719 strikeouts in 613 1/3 innings. He was an All-Star in 2003 and finished third in the Cy Young voting that season.
Prior skipped the Class A level on his way from Southern Cal to the Cubs, debuting at AA West Tenn in 2002. He went 4-1 at AA and then 1-1 with the Iowa Cubs in AAA before making his Cubs debut in May. Prior was 1-0 in one start in Iowa in 2004 and 0-1 in one start with the AAA squad in 2005. Overall his minor league numbers are 6-3 in 13 games with a 2.97 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings. In two years at USC, Prior was 25-7 with a 2.56 ERA while leading the Trojans to the 2001 College World Series.
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