Prior Makes Return

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jun 19, 2006 2:48PM

After last week's successful rehab start for the Iowa Cubs, we predicted Cubs pitcher Mark Prior would be returning to the Cubs rotation very soon. In fact, the Cubs did activate him over the weekend, and Prior made his season debut Sunday. After that outting, he may have wished he'd stayed in the minors a bit longer.

In his first start of the season, Prior lasted just 3 2/3 innings, giving up 8 runs. He let up 3 first-inning homers, as the Tigers scored 6 runs before the Cubs even came up to bat. Clearly, not as successful as his 4-hit, 1-run outting last week. He gave up 4 homers in total, half of the record-tying 8 the Cubs gave up in Sunday's 12-3 debacle.

Of course, it's really too early to make any predictions on Prior's effectiveness based on just one start. He hasn't pitched in a major league game since September, and he's still trying to regain his speed and stamina. Let's see how he looks 5 or 6 starts from now. That'll give a truer indication of his recovery. Kerry Wood also gave up a few homers in his debut, but has pitched better in subsequent starts. The two of them may actually provide the Cubs some decent pitching throughout the second half of the season. Of course, with the team 15 games below .500 it won't help much now.

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