Mark Prior Out 2 Months

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 31, 2005 3:48PM

Just as the Cubs are starting to rebound from their poor start, they lose Mark Prior again -- this time for two months with a hairline fracture in the elbow after being hit by a Brad Hawpe line drive. The ball was traveling at 117 mph when it hit!

Where do the Cubs go from here? They've moved over .500 for the first time since very early in the season, but their pitching staff is a mess! Their once feared starting rotation has been reduced to Carlos Zambrano, an aging Greg Maddux and a bunch of question marks due to the rash of injuries to Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Glendon Rusch has pitched well since moving into the rotation, but the move takes away the Cubs best long reliever. Ryan Dempster, who had started six games, is now the closer. Would they shift him back into the rotation? Joe Borowski recently returned to the roster but team seems hesitant to hand the closer job back to him so soon after such an extended layoff. Greybeard reliever Mike Remlinger factured his pinky finger in clubhouse recliner and landed on the DL. And over the weekend, the team traded the ineffective LaTroy Hawkins, which netted them two young pitchers -- but both are expected to join minor league affiliates rather than the Cubs bullpen.

The Cubs need to find healthy arms somewhere. They've called up a couple guys from the minors, but with all the injuries they might need to get more creative. Since Todd Hollandsworth lost his left fielder job to Jason Dubois after hitting like a pitcher, maybe they can throw him into the bullpen?

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