Mark Prior is hurt.

Well, he's only out 5-10 days with an inflamed Achilles, but he said in an interview it has been bothering him since late last year, when (you might recall) he threw approximately 25674.29 pitches a game in the last few weeks of the season.

I want to be kind of happy about this; I'm an Astros fan, first and foremost. But Prior is the kind of player you really don't want to get injured (especially if I have the 4th pick in fantasy baseball this year.)

No, seriously, I hope Mark Prior is ok. He's probably the best pitcher in baseball right now, and he's 23 years old. He's got a chance to be one of the best ever, and you don't want to see someone with that much potential get hurt.

By an anonymous poster at BPrimer:

"Well, does it hurt?" he asked.
The young matador/hurler gazed at the hills made of white elephants.
"Some," he said.
He poured whiskey on his cornflakes, and ate, ignoring the pain.
An hour passed.
Agitated, Dusty asked him again about his sore leg.
Silence. Then,
"I don't suppose it'll stop me from fishing. I know you like to fish."
"Yes, but this isn't ordinary fishing. We're going after Marlin. Not easy to take down."
A dull wind listlessly whispered, and the young hurler thought back to the previous fall.
"I might need 10 days, to rest up. It's a big challenge."
The old man read the pain in the young hurler's eyes. He thought of the sea.
"It'll go fast."
Silence.

"Perhaps."
"Better go get some rest."
The young hurler stared at the desert horizon. He would pitch again. Maybe many, many times.
But the innocence was lost forever.