BrianNYYanks
04-26-02, 07:42 AM
Cubs have Prior on fast track
By Tom Weir, USA TODAY
JACKSON, Tenn. — This is the town that was home to Casey Jones, the legendary locomotive engineer who died in a crash while trying to keep the Cannonball Express on schedule.
Jackson's most notable citizen of the moment, Class AA pitcher Mark Prior, also is on the fast track, and Cannonball Express is an apt description for the pitching style that has the 21-year-old projected to be in a Chicago Cubs uniform in his first pro season.
Unlike the ill-fated Casey, Prior has no intention of becoming a slave to a schedule set by others. But that hasn't been easy for the right-hander who swept seven different collegiate player of the year awards with a 15-1 junior season for Southern California last year.
"I hear it a dozen, maybe two dozen times a day," he says. " 'Are you coming to Chicago? When are you coming to Chicago? Why aren't you in Chicago?' "
During spring training, Cubs manager Don Baylor jokingly said that he wanted a written guarantee Prior would be in the majors by May: "He's not a September call-up. I'll tell you that."
Chicago's Prior commitment is a reported $10.5 million for five years to the No. 2 pick of last year's draft. The USC Trojan probably would have been No. 1 if St. Paul prep sensation Joe Mauer hadn't presented the Minnesota Twins with so much hometown allure.
Prior has further heightened expectations with a solid spring training and a 3-1 start for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and by leading the Southern League in strikeouts (33 in 20 1/3 innings). But perhaps what's most compelling about Prior is his simplicity.
With a no-frills windup, Prior functions like the perfect mousetrap. There's no kick, no twisting, no turning, no hands going above the head. In machine-shop terms, he's like an engine with a minimum of moving parts and thus has nothing that needs tinkering with and little that can go wrong.
"Mechanically, he is so sound that there is such a small room for mistake in his delivery," Diamond Jaxx pitching coach Alan Dunn says.
"He's just under control, and it's basically like he's playing catch out there. It's effortless. He's throwing hard, but he's not trying to throw hard. A lot of guys try to muscle up and go get it, but he's fluid."
House calls
That turn-on-the-tap ease that kept fastballs flowing in the 93- to 96-mph range throughout his four starts is the product of excellent coaching from a young age.
At 11, Prior started working with former pros Jay Martell and Randy Abshire, who coached junior college baseball in the San Diego area.
"What they always told me was to keep it simple, that you're just playing catch, but lifting your foot up at the end and throwing downhill," Prior says.
When he was a sophomore at University of San Diego High, Prior had the good luck to have a horrible performance at a game where his opposition included the son of former major leaguer Tom House.
For trivia buffs, House is best remembered as the guy who caught Hank Aaron's 715th career home run standing in the Atlanta Braves bullpen. But House also has been credited by Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson with making mechanical adjustments that extended their careers. Last weekend, struggling Texas Ranger John Rocker went to one of House's performance clinics in California, a trip that helped the reliever avoid a stint in the minor leagues.
Prior remembers meeting House after giving up 10 runs in one-third of an inning.
"He said, 'Man, you might want to think about mixing in a changeup. You've got too many tools to be giving up that many runs.' "
House's recollection is that Prior, now 6-5, was a "Big, tall doofus. Somebody hit him; he tried to throw it harder. He was basically a rock pile, with all kinds of tools to work with."
The two began working together, and Prior bought heavily into the four-sided approach of House's company, Absolute Performance Group, which emphasizes mechanics, strength, nutrition and mental-emotional makeup.
"He's the poster child for everything my company does," House says. "I've never seen all four of those pieces in a kid this age."
One of the key things House does with pitchers is film them at the rate of 100 frames a second, then perform a computer analysis of their mechanics. This is where addressing Prior's future gets downright scary.
Of the 637 pitchers of note House has downloaded into his computer files, only four have scored higher for pure mechanical soundness. They are the aforementioned Ryan and Johnson, plus Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens.
"He's off the charts," House says. "This kid will be among the elite that ever throw a game. He's short on experience, but all the benchmarks predict he will be one of those guys."
Another key for Prior is that his last pitch in a game tends to be as good, or even better, than his first. In Prior's best minor league start, an April 17 victory in which he allowed two hits while striking out eight in seven innings, West Tenn coach Dunn clocked the final pitch at a game-high 96 mph.
"He's a starter who can close, and they're hard to find," House says. "Ryan was wired to throw 98-100 mph, and so is Mark. He's got an upside. He's not throwing as hard as he's going to."
That additional speed, House says, will come when Prior fills out his 225-pound frame in his mid-20s and adds upper body strength.
"This is a pretty special individual," House says. "That's why he's going to be ready for the big leagues sooner than anyone thinks. The learning curve is going to be a short one."
Traditionally, the next stop on that learning curve would be a promotion to the Cubs' Class AAA (Des Moines) Iowa franchise. But House's view is that Prior might be better off going straight to the majors and learning at that level.
"If Mark has someone who will carry him through the thinking process and a veteran catcher who will nurse him along, he can be a robo pitcher," House says.
"Pressure is not going to keep him from throwing strikes."
Good genes, great calves
Take heed when Prior does get to Chicago because interesting things tend to happen when he's in the house. The only time he has been to a World Series game, as a 9-year-old, the 1989 Fall Classic was shut down by the earthquake that rocked Candlestick Park. And on his first trip to Wrigley Field, after signing last August, Sammy Sosa erupted with a three-homer game.
Fittingly, Prior has been given an epic nickname by his Diamond Jaxx teammates: Calfzilla.
That's a reference to Prior's tree trunk-like calf muscles.
"They want to know if I milk them every morning," Prior says of the muscles that are a genetic gift from his father, a football lineman for Vanderbilt in the 1960s. But because Jerry Prior had eight knee surgeries and a blown disk in his back, he didn't push football. That's fortunate because, Prior says, "I can't throw a football worth a darn."
Prior's brother Jerry played collegiate tennis at Villanova, as did his sister Millie at the University of San Diego. Prior didn't make it a tennis family trifecta because, "As much self-control as I have on the mound, I had none in tennis. I had rackets flying. I just didn't have any patience."
But Prior had the patience to turn down the chance to be a Yankee in 1998 when New York drafted him out of high school.
"My parents said take the money out of the equation and what do you want to do the next three years, be in college or on a bus?"
Prior, who's one semester shy of earning his business degree at Southern California, decided to postpone those dreaded minor league bus journeys until this year. In spring training he got four appearances that totaled 10 innings against major league competition, including a seven-strikeout outing against the Chicago White Sox.
Frank Thomas was one of the White Sox who got punched out, on a called third strike.
"I knew he was for real," Thomas says. "I don't see the Cubs wasting too much time with that kid. He has tremendous potential."
Prior's lone setback with the Diamond Jaxx was his last start, Monday, his only loss. After opening the game with four consecutive strikeouts, Prior got into trouble and lasted only three-plus innings, allowing seven hits and four earned runs, while still striking out seven. In three previous starts, he had allowed only two earned runs in 17 innings, while striking out 26.
"I felt that game tested my patience more than any other game I've had in my career," Prior says of the loss to the Birmingham (Ala.) Barons. "That was my first encounter with getting hit when I felt my stuff was as good as it's ever been."
But the way Prior regrouped mentally demonstrated the maturity he'll need at the major league level.
"I let my ego and my pride get in the way of what my job was," Prior says. "Because I blew them away in the first inning, I went right back to that fastball. I probably should have checked my ego. It was tough, and it was a learning experience."
There will be more, including a likely major league debut in the near future. "I'm assuming, and maybe it's a bad assumption, it will be this year," Prior says. "But I want to be called up because I'm ready to go, and then I'll be able to stick."
Then there just might not be any way to derail this Cannonball Express.
By Tom Weir, USA TODAY
JACKSON, Tenn. — This is the town that was home to Casey Jones, the legendary locomotive engineer who died in a crash while trying to keep the Cannonball Express on schedule.
Jackson's most notable citizen of the moment, Class AA pitcher Mark Prior, also is on the fast track, and Cannonball Express is an apt description for the pitching style that has the 21-year-old projected to be in a Chicago Cubs uniform in his first pro season.
Unlike the ill-fated Casey, Prior has no intention of becoming a slave to a schedule set by others. But that hasn't been easy for the right-hander who swept seven different collegiate player of the year awards with a 15-1 junior season for Southern California last year.
"I hear it a dozen, maybe two dozen times a day," he says. " 'Are you coming to Chicago? When are you coming to Chicago? Why aren't you in Chicago?' "
During spring training, Cubs manager Don Baylor jokingly said that he wanted a written guarantee Prior would be in the majors by May: "He's not a September call-up. I'll tell you that."
Chicago's Prior commitment is a reported $10.5 million for five years to the No. 2 pick of last year's draft. The USC Trojan probably would have been No. 1 if St. Paul prep sensation Joe Mauer hadn't presented the Minnesota Twins with so much hometown allure.
Prior has further heightened expectations with a solid spring training and a 3-1 start for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx and by leading the Southern League in strikeouts (33 in 20 1/3 innings). But perhaps what's most compelling about Prior is his simplicity.
With a no-frills windup, Prior functions like the perfect mousetrap. There's no kick, no twisting, no turning, no hands going above the head. In machine-shop terms, he's like an engine with a minimum of moving parts and thus has nothing that needs tinkering with and little that can go wrong.
"Mechanically, he is so sound that there is such a small room for mistake in his delivery," Diamond Jaxx pitching coach Alan Dunn says.
"He's just under control, and it's basically like he's playing catch out there. It's effortless. He's throwing hard, but he's not trying to throw hard. A lot of guys try to muscle up and go get it, but he's fluid."
House calls
That turn-on-the-tap ease that kept fastballs flowing in the 93- to 96-mph range throughout his four starts is the product of excellent coaching from a young age.
At 11, Prior started working with former pros Jay Martell and Randy Abshire, who coached junior college baseball in the San Diego area.
"What they always told me was to keep it simple, that you're just playing catch, but lifting your foot up at the end and throwing downhill," Prior says.
When he was a sophomore at University of San Diego High, Prior had the good luck to have a horrible performance at a game where his opposition included the son of former major leaguer Tom House.
For trivia buffs, House is best remembered as the guy who caught Hank Aaron's 715th career home run standing in the Atlanta Braves bullpen. But House also has been credited by Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson with making mechanical adjustments that extended their careers. Last weekend, struggling Texas Ranger John Rocker went to one of House's performance clinics in California, a trip that helped the reliever avoid a stint in the minor leagues.
Prior remembers meeting House after giving up 10 runs in one-third of an inning.
"He said, 'Man, you might want to think about mixing in a changeup. You've got too many tools to be giving up that many runs.' "
House's recollection is that Prior, now 6-5, was a "Big, tall doofus. Somebody hit him; he tried to throw it harder. He was basically a rock pile, with all kinds of tools to work with."
The two began working together, and Prior bought heavily into the four-sided approach of House's company, Absolute Performance Group, which emphasizes mechanics, strength, nutrition and mental-emotional makeup.
"He's the poster child for everything my company does," House says. "I've never seen all four of those pieces in a kid this age."
One of the key things House does with pitchers is film them at the rate of 100 frames a second, then perform a computer analysis of their mechanics. This is where addressing Prior's future gets downright scary.
Of the 637 pitchers of note House has downloaded into his computer files, only four have scored higher for pure mechanical soundness. They are the aforementioned Ryan and Johnson, plus Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens.
"He's off the charts," House says. "This kid will be among the elite that ever throw a game. He's short on experience, but all the benchmarks predict he will be one of those guys."
Another key for Prior is that his last pitch in a game tends to be as good, or even better, than his first. In Prior's best minor league start, an April 17 victory in which he allowed two hits while striking out eight in seven innings, West Tenn coach Dunn clocked the final pitch at a game-high 96 mph.
"He's a starter who can close, and they're hard to find," House says. "Ryan was wired to throw 98-100 mph, and so is Mark. He's got an upside. He's not throwing as hard as he's going to."
That additional speed, House says, will come when Prior fills out his 225-pound frame in his mid-20s and adds upper body strength.
"This is a pretty special individual," House says. "That's why he's going to be ready for the big leagues sooner than anyone thinks. The learning curve is going to be a short one."
Traditionally, the next stop on that learning curve would be a promotion to the Cubs' Class AAA (Des Moines) Iowa franchise. But House's view is that Prior might be better off going straight to the majors and learning at that level.
"If Mark has someone who will carry him through the thinking process and a veteran catcher who will nurse him along, he can be a robo pitcher," House says.
"Pressure is not going to keep him from throwing strikes."
Good genes, great calves
Take heed when Prior does get to Chicago because interesting things tend to happen when he's in the house. The only time he has been to a World Series game, as a 9-year-old, the 1989 Fall Classic was shut down by the earthquake that rocked Candlestick Park. And on his first trip to Wrigley Field, after signing last August, Sammy Sosa erupted with a three-homer game.
Fittingly, Prior has been given an epic nickname by his Diamond Jaxx teammates: Calfzilla.
That's a reference to Prior's tree trunk-like calf muscles.
"They want to know if I milk them every morning," Prior says of the muscles that are a genetic gift from his father, a football lineman for Vanderbilt in the 1960s. But because Jerry Prior had eight knee surgeries and a blown disk in his back, he didn't push football. That's fortunate because, Prior says, "I can't throw a football worth a darn."
Prior's brother Jerry played collegiate tennis at Villanova, as did his sister Millie at the University of San Diego. Prior didn't make it a tennis family trifecta because, "As much self-control as I have on the mound, I had none in tennis. I had rackets flying. I just didn't have any patience."
But Prior had the patience to turn down the chance to be a Yankee in 1998 when New York drafted him out of high school.
"My parents said take the money out of the equation and what do you want to do the next three years, be in college or on a bus?"
Prior, who's one semester shy of earning his business degree at Southern California, decided to postpone those dreaded minor league bus journeys until this year. In spring training he got four appearances that totaled 10 innings against major league competition, including a seven-strikeout outing against the Chicago White Sox.
Frank Thomas was one of the White Sox who got punched out, on a called third strike.
"I knew he was for real," Thomas says. "I don't see the Cubs wasting too much time with that kid. He has tremendous potential."
Prior's lone setback with the Diamond Jaxx was his last start, Monday, his only loss. After opening the game with four consecutive strikeouts, Prior got into trouble and lasted only three-plus innings, allowing seven hits and four earned runs, while still striking out seven. In three previous starts, he had allowed only two earned runs in 17 innings, while striking out 26.
"I felt that game tested my patience more than any other game I've had in my career," Prior says of the loss to the Birmingham (Ala.) Barons. "That was my first encounter with getting hit when I felt my stuff was as good as it's ever been."
But the way Prior regrouped mentally demonstrated the maturity he'll need at the major league level.
"I let my ego and my pride get in the way of what my job was," Prior says. "Because I blew them away in the first inning, I went right back to that fastball. I probably should have checked my ego. It was tough, and it was a learning experience."
There will be more, including a likely major league debut in the near future. "I'm assuming, and maybe it's a bad assumption, it will be this year," Prior says. "But I want to be called up because I'm ready to go, and then I'll be able to stick."
Then there just might not be any way to derail this Cannonball Express.