Mark Prior on Stephen Strasburg: Pitcher's Arm Action Tough to Change

Critics who blame the torn elbow ligament suffered by Stephen Strasburg on faulty pitching mechanics may or may not have a point, but the bigger point is, not much could have been done to effectively change Strasburg's form.

There's not a whole lot that can be done prudently to change the arm action that allows an advanced pitcher to throw as hard as Strasburg did.

Says who?

Says Mark Prior, the Strasburg of his generation who a week ago talked to FanHouse about Strasburg.

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When Prior was a dominating pitcher for both USC and the Chicago Cubs, some pitching analysts described his delivery as textbook, yet others found troubling Prior's "inverted W" delivery, whereby, in the "loading" sequence, the elbow was higher than the shoulder.

Many pitching experts and scouts expressed no concerns about Strasburg while he was at San Diego State, or after he was drafted first overall by the Washington Nationals in 2009.

But Strasburg's inverted W worried White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, who had voiced concern to MLB Network Radio recently.

I asked Prior if the inverted W spelled trouble for both him and Strasburg.

"I know what it's about, I've been asked about it a number of times," Prior said. "I guess you can make an argument with anything. I don't know, I've heard people tell me that that arm action's great. I've heard people tell me that that arm action's bad."

Then Prior made his bigger point.

"It doesn't matter. It's my arm action," he said. "You can't really change arm action. It's kind of tough to do that. To just throw out a blanket statement that anybody that throws like that (is destined for arm surgery), it's tough. I don't give it a whole lot of validity. Everybody pitches the way they pitch, and some guys get hurt, some guys don't get hurt.

"It's just the way it is."

Prior, 29, is attempting to make a comeback from a series of shoulder ailments that led to four arthroscopic procedures. This week, he was up to 92 miles per hour in a scoreless relief outing with the Orange County Flyers, an independent team. Prior hopes to return to the major leagues next year as a reliever. He has yet to allow an earned run In six relief outings totaling eight innings with the Flyers.

FanHouse TV's Steve Phillips breaks down Strasburg's troublesome mechanics. Click to watch: