Top Cubs' prospect zooming through minors

DES MOINES, Iowa -- He overwhelms hitters with his fastball, fools them with his curve and keeps most of them off the bases. He can swing a bat, too.

Mark Prior has been called a Kerry Wood with better control. The Chicago Cubs made Prior the No. 2 choice overall in last year's draft and the 21-year-old right-hander quickly has shown why.

After just seven starts in the minors, Prior already has the look of a polished pro.

"He's going to be fun to watch," Cubs manager Don Baylor said. "For a long time."

Prior, signed for $10.5 million, certainly was a delight for the Cubs' brass in his Triple-A debut on Tuesday night. It was pure Hollywood.

He struck out the side in the first inning on 10 pitches. He finished with 10 strikeouts in 7 2-3 innings in the Iowa Cubs' 6-1 victory over Tucson. He allowed just three hits, two of them little bleeders into right field, and walked two. The only run he gave up was unearned.

As though that weren't enough, Prior also hit two home runs.

Already on a fast track to Wrigley Field, Prior might have hastened the process, although he was reluctant to say so.

"I've still got a lot to learn as far as pitching to these hitters," Prior said. "Triple-A is a little bit different. They're not as free-swinging as Double-A.

"Double-A is just a lot of young guys hacking away. These guys you can set up more like you can the big-league hitters. And a lot of these guys have big-league experience, so it would be nice to face a couple of teams and get used to it a little bit more."

His first go-round with Triple-A hitters was similar to his professional debut at Double-A West Tenn on April 7, when he struck out 10 and did not allow an earned run in five innings. He struck out the side in the first inning of that game, too.

In six starts at West Tenn, Prior was 4-1 with a 2.60 earned run average, striking out 55 in 34 2-3 innings and walking 10. He cuts an imposing figure on the mound at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, yet his delivery is so smooth it hardly looks like he's working.

"I know he's still young, but he threw it where he wanted to throw," said Mike Mahoney, Prior's catcher for Tuesday's game.

"He threw relaxed. He didn't try to throw every pitch 100 miles an hour. But he threw a few 95s."

The obvious comparison is to Wood, who burst onto the scene with his 20-strikeout one-hitter as a Cubs' rookie in 1998. But control always has been an issue with Wood, who has 29 walks in 43 innings this year.

"What makes Mark different than Kerry is the fact that Mark can maintain his consistency with his delivery and what comes out on the other end is control," said Lester Strode, the Cubs' minor league pitching coordinator.

"But I'll take both on my staff any day."

They're likely to be on the same staff soon. Baylor wanted to take Prior to Chicago out of spring training, but Prior had not been in a real game since pitching for Southern Cal in the College World Series last June, so the front office decided he needed some time in the minors.

General manager Andy MacPhail and Jim Hendry, vice president of player personnel, will decide when to bring up Prior.

"I don't know how many starts he's going to get down there," Baylor said. "I don't know if it's going to be one more, two more. I'm just like you. I'm in the dark on that one."

Prior is more concerned with his next start at Iowa. That will be Sunday against Las Vegas.

"There's only one way to go now and that's down, so I guess I've got to try to repeat myself on Sunday," Prior said. "But I'm not going to try to put any pressure on myself. I'm just going to go out and make sure I have another quality start and, hopefully, we can get a win."