Inspired by Prior leaving a No-Hitter in the 6th inning I am going to breakdown these two highly paid injury prone "stars"
Assortment of Injuries
Kerry Wood
Tommy John Surgery - In 1999 after winning the Rookie of the Year Wood went threw the big whammy of Tommy John Surgery causing him to miss the entire 1999 season and beginning of the 2000 season.
Strained Biceps - In 2004 Wood missed much of the season due to a strained bicep. Now think about a typical throwing motion and then contemplate how one could really put that much strain on their bicep to hurt it.
Labrum Injury - In 2005 Wood suffered many shoulder issues, resulting in him being moved to relief and experimented as a closer. After these moves failed miserably he was shortly placed back in the starting rotation before being shut down and having season ending surgery in August on his Labrum.
Torn Rotator Cuff - This season after bouncing to and from the DL and complaining of a weak arm a doctor finally noticed that he had a Torn Rotator Cuff. In recent news Wood has contemplated whether it was in fact his rotator cuff which bothered him last year and not completely his Labrum, and whether the surgery he had in August of 05 was the right move.
Mark Prior
Collision with Marcus Giles - In 2003 Mark Prior dump trucked Marcus Giles while running the bases, this cause him to miss both the all star game and about 4 starts. Marcus Giles missed a much more significant amount of time. However, this is arguably one of the unluckiest injuries a player can get.
Achilles Tendon - Prior suffered an Achilles injury at the start of the 2004 campaign which forced him to miss the first two months of the season. In actuality this was better than the Tommy John Surgery that many people speculated he might need, so the few months was a lot better than the mandotory year DL stint that the big elbow surgery requires.
Drilled in the Elbow - In 2005 Prior missed a few games to start the season, but suffered a compression fracture after Brad Hawpe drilled a ball up the middle and Prior was hit directly in the elbow by the 117 mph line drive.
Strained Shoulder - Prior during his Spring Training throwing program at the start of the 2006 season complained of shoulder stiffness and resulted in him making his 2006 debut on June 18th.
Strained Oblique - On July 14th Prior landed on the DL due to straining his oblique during batting practice. And quite possibly could have aggravated that injury while covering first base while still throwing a no hitter against the Mets on Wednesday.
Winner: Wood, this is purely coming from a standpoint of what is more frustrating, guys getting seriously injured, like Wood, or pesky little injuries that seemingly put a player on the DL like Prior.
Contract
Kerry Wood
Wood made a large 12 million dollars this year, however mercifully he is off the books for the Cubs following the 2006 season. Unfortunately for the Cubs I am unsure if he will qualify as a major free agent leaving the squad which results in those sandwich picks between the 1st and 2nd rounds of the MLB draft.
Mark Prior
Mark is only making 3.65 million dollars this year. His contract as well terminates in 2006 but he is arbitration eligible and one would assume he would opt for arbitration, so who knows what he will get for 2007. However I heard he was offered an 8 million dollar contract.
Winner: Wood made 12 mill this year, Prior hasn't gotten a huge contract, and probably won't be given a longterm contract from the Cubs anytime soon.
Skill Level
Kerry Wood
During Kerry's prime years (98, 01-03) he was one of the most dominant strike out pitchers in the game, recording well over 200 Ks in each season, and had an ERA in the low to mid 3s in each of these seasons. Basically, Kerry Wood was an all star caliber pitcher in every season he has been healthy. His win total has never exceeded 14 (03) however as I've stated in the past win total is not a very good estimation of how well a pitcher has thrown.
Bonus Point: Wood pitched game 7 against the Marlins in 2003, hit a homer, and blew the lead and received the loss.
Mark Prior
Mark has had the best season of the three, winning 18 games and finishing 3rd in the Cy Young in 2003. However, he has yet to play a full season in the league and he has shown less consistency then Kerry Wood, so while he has shown a larger flash of greatness it is difficult firmly state he is a better pitcher than Wood.
Bonus Point: Prior was the starter of the Bartman game and also the loser of the game.
Winner: Prior, he has slightly more potential to be a dominant pitcher than Wood. Wood is a great strikeout pitcher, but you never had expectations of him having a sub 3 ERA.
Teams Dependence
Kerry Wood & Mark Prior
Kerry Wood and Mark Prior can easily be bunched together when discussing the Cubs dependence on their troubled star pitchers. If Wood and Prior were in the rotation, the Cubs would have 3 stellar starters with Zambrano a strong candidate for the Cy Young this season. Without them the Cubs have only three pitchers who have started 10+ times (Zambrano, a withering Greg Maddux and rookie Sean Marshall) and have run out pitchers the likes of Glendon Rusch to Jae Kuk Ryu in their 4 and 5 spots. Simply put the Cubs seasons success was predicated on the health of Wood and Prior and without them they are what they are a bottom 5 MLB team.
Overall Winner of the Killing the Cubs Award
Kerry Wood. Prior might be better but the overriding factor is that Wood is making 12 mill in comparison to 3.65 mill. That's a big difference. In addition Kerry Wood has had the more serious of the injuries. So congrats Kerry, if I had a trophy or a plaque I would give it to you.
Assortment of Injuries
Kerry Wood
Tommy John Surgery - In 1999 after winning the Rookie of the Year Wood went threw the big whammy of Tommy John Surgery causing him to miss the entire 1999 season and beginning of the 2000 season.Strained Biceps - In 2004 Wood missed much of the season due to a strained bicep. Now think about a typical throwing motion and then contemplate how one could really put that much strain on their bicep to hurt it.
Labrum Injury - In 2005 Wood suffered many shoulder issues, resulting in him being moved to relief and experimented as a closer. After these moves failed miserably he was shortly placed back in the starting rotation before being shut down and having season ending surgery in August on his Labrum.
Torn Rotator Cuff - This season after bouncing to and from the DL and complaining of a weak arm a doctor finally noticed that he had a Torn Rotator Cuff. In recent news Wood has contemplated whether it was in fact his rotator cuff which bothered him last year and not completely his Labrum, and whether the surgery he had in August of 05 was the right move.
Mark Prior
Collision with Marcus Giles - In 2003 Mark Prior dump trucked Marcus Giles while running the bases, this cause him to miss both the all star game and about 4 starts. Marcus Giles missed a much more significant amount of time. However, this is arguably one of the unluckiest injuries a player can get.Achilles Tendon - Prior suffered an Achilles injury at the start of the 2004 campaign which forced him to miss the first two months of the season. In actuality this was better than the Tommy John Surgery that many people speculated he might need, so the few months was a lot better than the mandotory year DL stint that the big elbow surgery requires.
Drilled in the Elbow - In 2005 Prior missed a few games to start the season, but suffered a compression fracture after Brad Hawpe drilled a ball up the middle and Prior was hit directly in the elbow by the 117 mph line drive.
Strained Shoulder - Prior during his Spring Training throwing program at the start of the 2006 season complained of shoulder stiffness and resulted in him making his 2006 debut on June 18th.
Strained Oblique - On July 14th Prior landed on the DL due to straining his oblique during batting practice. And quite possibly could have aggravated that injury while covering first base while still throwing a no hitter against the Mets on Wednesday.
Winner: Wood, this is purely coming from a standpoint of what is more frustrating, guys getting seriously injured, like Wood, or pesky little injuries that seemingly put a player on the DL like Prior.
Contract
Kerry Wood
Wood made a large 12 million dollars this year, however mercifully he is off the books for the Cubs following the 2006 season. Unfortunately for the Cubs I am unsure if he will qualify as a major free agent leaving the squad which results in those sandwich picks between the 1st and 2nd rounds of the MLB draft.
Mark Prior
Mark is only making 3.65 million dollars this year. His contract as well terminates in 2006 but he is arbitration eligible and one would assume he would opt for arbitration, so who knows what he will get for 2007. However I heard he was offered an 8 million dollar contract.
Winner: Wood made 12 mill this year, Prior hasn't gotten a huge contract, and probably won't be given a longterm contract from the Cubs anytime soon.
Skill Level
Kerry Wood
During Kerry's prime years (98, 01-03) he was one of the most dominant strike out pitchers in the game, recording well over 200 Ks in each season, and had an ERA in the low to mid 3s in each of these seasons. Basically, Kerry Wood was an all star caliber pitcher in every season he has been healthy. His win total has never exceeded 14 (03) however as I've stated in the past win total is not a very good estimation of how well a pitcher has thrown.
Bonus Point: Wood pitched game 7 against the Marlins in 2003, hit a homer, and blew the lead and received the loss.
Mark Prior
Mark has had the best season of the three, winning 18 games and finishing 3rd in the Cy Young in 2003. However, he has yet to play a full season in the league and he has shown less consistency then Kerry Wood, so while he has shown a larger flash of greatness it is difficult firmly state he is a better pitcher than Wood.Bonus Point: Prior was the starter of the Bartman game and also the loser of the game.
Winner: Prior, he has slightly more potential to be a dominant pitcher than Wood. Wood is a great strikeout pitcher, but you never had expectations of him having a sub 3 ERA.
Teams Dependence
Kerry Wood & Mark Prior
Kerry Wood and Mark Prior can easily be bunched together when discussing the Cubs dependence on their troubled star pitchers. If Wood and Prior were in the rotation, the Cubs would have 3 stellar starters with Zambrano a strong candidate for the Cy Young this season. Without them the Cubs have only three pitchers who have started 10+ times (Zambrano, a withering Greg Maddux and rookie Sean Marshall) and have run out pitchers the likes of Glendon Rusch to Jae Kuk Ryu in their 4 and 5 spots. Simply put the Cubs seasons success was predicated on the health of Wood and Prior and without them they are what they are a bottom 5 MLB team.Overall Winner of the Killing the Cubs Award
Kerry Wood. Prior might be better but the overriding factor is that Wood is making 12 mill in comparison to 3.65 mill. That's a big difference. In addition Kerry Wood has had the more serious of the injuries. So congrats Kerry, if I had a trophy or a plaque I would give it to you.
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