Mark Prior signs with Reds

[Brock Landers]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-chicago-cubs-news-former-cub-prior-signs-with-reds-in-another-comeback-bid-20130301,0,1062778.story

Great, so he can reunite with the same guy who ruined his career!

[tto827]

Dusty didn't ruin Prior's career. Prior's motion was robotic, and while it looked good on film, clearly it took a toll on his body. The dudes legs were tree trunks, I've always thought he took PED's, but never been caught so I won't blame it on that.

[Jeffie]

someone actually signed him wth?

[broadway6]

Yawn.... Rubberband play!!!!

[Chi_archie]

Surprising how you relatively young he is, despite having not pitched in MLB in so long. Last year he had some crazy numbers in triple A, at one point I think he was averaging 2 k's per inning but was close to walking that many too. No risk here for the reds

[greenhippo]

This fukker is only 32?

[Da Beer Guy]

Guy is still young. Some players dont even make the majors until they are 32 or 33. He's got his whole career ahead of him.

[greenhippo]

Guy was a big named player, just saw his stats. Some reason I thought he was something special, only one season winning over 11 games. Doubt he sees the big time again as anything but a September callup or middle reliever

[Bcatswin]

Kerry Wood said Dusty Bakers was the best Manager he ever played for/had.

[Chi_archie]

he won't be on the 40 man roster unless the reds have a ton of bullpen injuries. So he either gets added to the 40 man out of desperation whenever that happens or not. So not a typical 40 man september call up kinda player.

guy had electric stuff when healthy at a young age. wins not a good way to look at it. 757 Strike Outs in 658 Innings. for a 10.35 K's per 9.

to put that in perspective, if he had had 1.5 more healthy seasons and gotten to 1000 innings pitched at the same rate. He'd rank second all time in that stat to Randy Johnson at 10.6. Kerry Wood (10.3) and Pedro Martinez (10.03) are the only other pitchers above 10.0
Nolan Ryan is 5th at 9.54

[vrksayy]

someone in my fantasy league named their team 'Prior to Wood'. how this is related to the signing of mark prior by the cincinatti reds is beyond me. I thought he was washed up?

[InTheDrink]

Some reason I thought he was something special, only one season winning over 11 games.

blame Bartman

prior would have been the winning pitcher in that game

[Da Beer Guy]

Well we all know mentally he knows how to pitch.

But will he have the physical capability?

Anybody know what his fast ball velocity is right now?

He's pitching style is that of a power pitcher. He relies on over powering hitters. He needs to consistently stay above 92mph to have any shot at being successful.

Preferably for his sake it would be nice if he stayed in the 94-96mph range for 6+ innings.

[Da Beer Guy]

Speaking of the Reds i have a couple questions for you guys.

1. Do you guys really think shin soo choo or however u spell it has the foot speed to play CF?

Also why the fukk did the Reds let Drew Stubbs go? Stubbs was about as clutch as they come in big situations throughout the season.

2. does anyone else think the Reds are making a huge mistake trying to make Alroldis Chapman a starter?

[InTheDrink]

Well we all know mentally he knows how to pitch.

But will he have the physical capability?

Anybody know what his fast ball velocity is right now?

He's pitching style is that of a power pitcher. He relies on over powering hitters. He needs to consistently stay above 92mph to have any shot at being successful.

Preferably for his sake it would be nice if he stayed in the 94-96mph range for 6+ innings.

he'd be a middle reliever at best

[Da Beer Guy]

Alroldis Chapman was the best relief pitcher in MLB last year.
What makes him successful is un-worldly velocity on his fastball! Guy has the MLB record at 105mph in 2012 at Petco Park.

Last year he was consistent at 101-103 Mph and he was almost unhittable.

IMO Dusty Baker over used him. Everyone knows that if you over work a flame thrower like that your asking for trouble.

But by making him a starter hitters are going to get more familar with him. Have better scouting reports on him. See him 3 times a night. And he is going to be lucky to keep his FB in the 95-96mph range for a full season.

Just too much risk imo. The guy is essentially a 2 pitch pitcher. I just dont see him being succesful and staying healthy as a starter. Maybe he will prove me wrong but i would be shocked if he wins 20 games.

[The Giant]

I'm going to pick Mark Prior in the first round of my baseball draft.

[InTheDrink]

I'm going to pick Mark Prior in the first round of my baseball draft.

thegiant im going to go with ttwarrior

thegiant my disdain for him knows no bounds

thegiant your presence is one of the few things that puts me at ease after dealing with ttwarrior1

[You mad bro]

who gives a penetrate for 2 reasons

1. its cincy
2. mark prior is a waste of space

[JMobile]

Padres gave him a 1 year $1Mill contract a few years ago just to see if he still had it. I never got to see him at Petco Park. I waited, but Prior never showed up.

[Chi_archie]

we were tracking him last year In AAA

and it sounded like he was throwing no where near as hard from a few articles we posted 88-92 I see, when I scan them.

but he was striking people out at a rate of 20k per 9innings at one point.

he also wasn't getting hit much, but he was walking people at an astronomical rate too...

http://forum.sbrforum.com/players-talk/1799292-mark-prior-comeback-back-track-p2.html

you can scroll down and see his splits on his milb page. June and July were pretty impressive

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=407578

[lesterdymond]

Great info Brock..

I remember that magical year as a former Cubs fan.

[rcene]

Yawn.... Rubberband play!!!!

Yeah where have the rubberband plays been?