Mark Appel, the first overall pick of the 2013 draft, is preparing for a comeback with the Phillies, according to Matt Gelb and Evan Drellich of The Athletic (subscription required). Just over three years ago, Appel announced that he was stepping away from baseball, but didn’t rule out a possible return in the future.
That time appears to be now, as Gelb/Drellich write that Appel is planning to report to the Phillies’ minor league spring camp. Appel has also worked out at Driveline Baseball during his three-plus years away from the game, so he has already taken some previous steps towards getting back on the mound.
Appel’s 1-1 status in 2013 represented the third time he was drafted by a big league team. The Tigers took a 15th-round flier on Appel in 2009 to see if they could convince him to break his commitment to Stanford, and the Pirates took Appel with the eighth overall pick of the 2012 draft. However, Appel’s drop to the eighth spot in the first place was due to his high asking price, and Appel returned for another year at Stanford after his representatives and the Pirates failed to reach an agreement on a contract.
That set the stage for the beginning of Appel’s pro career as the Astros top pick, though he was never able to pitch with much consistency throughout his days in the minor leagues. His early struggles led Houston to make a quick pivot by including Appel as part of a five-player package to the Phillies in a trade for Ken Giles and Jonathan Arauz in December 2015. The change of scenery didn’t help Appel, and he soon ran into elbow and shoulder injuries that limited his ability to stay on the field.
Beyond the physical problems, Appel also faced a mental toll that was at least as significant, and he openly discussed his frustrations and the pressures he faced in trying to get his career on track with Bleacher Report’s Joon Lee. “I had high expectations. I didn’t live up to those for a number of reasons,” Appel said. “If you want to call me the biggest draft bust, you can call it that….If I never get to the big leagues, will it be a disappointment? Yes and no. That was a goal and a dream I had at one point, but that’s with stipulations that I’m healthy, I’m happy and doing something I love. If I get to the big leagues, what’s so great about the big leagues if you’re in an isolated place, you’re hurt and you’re emotionally unhappy? How much is that worth to you?”
Appel made it as high as the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate, but didn’t reach the majors, recording a 5.06 ERA and 18.75% strikeout rate over 375 1/3 combined innings in the Philadelphia and Houston farm systems. Appel is one of seven first overall picks who have never appeared in a big league game, though obviously more recent picks like Spencer Torkelson, Adley Rutschman, and Royce Lewis are earlier along in their professional careers.
Still only 29 years old, Appel would be one of the all-time late bloomer stories if he was able to make it all the way back and find some big league success. Most importantly, it’s a terrific sign that Appel is in a good enough personal space just to make the attempt, and find some closure for himself in baseball.
Always have mixed feelings @guys who flip/flop when drafted……
Caveat; as a long-term phillies phan, was curious when they acquired Appel and even more curious when the “mental” stuff went down……Scouting report said his fastball was simply too straight…?
Hope for his success, even if it doesn’t happen in Philly. Any player who overcomes “stuff”, I can appreciate…
Great news. Hopefully, he can make it to the majors and be a terrific pitcher. It would be a good story.
I am pulling for him. Good luck Mark
Huge news. Wishing him the best on his journey. He has a great outlook; if you’re not happy, what’s even the point?
Phillies still own this guy. They can use all the help they can get pitching wise. Probably be a couple years before he’d crack any MLB roster since he hasn’t pitched professionally in 4 years.
not positive but my if my memory is accurate, our old friend scott.borass was (still is?) his representative when drafted.
Hunting for more money? nah, it was all about finishing school….(<<< sarcasm people, sarcasm)
Oh wow. I can’t believe someone tried to use what little leverage they had to be paid in alignment with their perceived value. And this Boras guy sounds like a real jerk for helping.
scott.borass is a cancer on baseball. for all the big contracts he gets for stars, there are a number of middle and back end players who were screwed waiting for a higher offer when it was clear the market was not there.
He’s a sad story. I wish him luck.
Watch him get traded to the Rays and win the 2023 Cy Young
He’d be the GOAT comeback player ever, while not even be eligible for Comeback Player of the Year.
nah, that honor goes to Tom Wilhelmsen
Matt Bush and Josh Hamilton were also good stories. Rick Ankiel going for the yips as a pitcher to a productive outfielder was cool.
Nothing about Matt Bush is a good story
He got a Six point three million signing bonus. Unless he’s a fool, he’s set for life. It’s not a sad story at all.
Exactly. The last thing I wanna hear is a millionaire chirp about is how rough he had it mentally the last three years while the world struggles DURING A PANDEMIC.
Yea cause money equals happiness
Pretty close minded statement. Just because he’s made more money than most of us will ever see doesn’t mean he doesn’t face struggles like we do. People nowadays never think about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes and it shows in how we treat each other.
Agreed. Weird that we turn to hate and anger and a general lack of empathy just because the guy is worth more money than most of us.
That’s the world we live in. Someone is more successful or wealthy than you it’s acceptable to hate them and blame them for your problems or act like they can never struggle. Everyone has a hard life.
@ qbert1996;
Yes, before you say something about someone else, walk a mile in their shoes……
That way, if they take offense to what you’ve said – you’ll be mile away from them, and have their shoes on.
Don’t squeeze it too hard. His PA has spent millions on mental and physical health insurance on players like him while regular Joe’s like us have to fork it over.
Go ahead,walk a mile or two in his shoes.
So don’t hate on him for it. Join a union and fight for those benefits for you and your coworkers. It’s not that he doesn’t deserve it, it’s that you do. Tell your boss/company to get their act together, not this guy.
Sure, I’ve love to join a union, but … Only 10.8% of US workers belong to a union, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The world lacks empathy. It’s very sad how close minded so many people are. Money doesn’t buy happiness. Another example of someone who don’t see athletes/famous people as human beings.
I was watching the movie Twins a little while ago. John Travolta’s had to bury a son and his wife, Kelly Preston, who died at 58. For him I have empathy. For a guy in his 20s, who was given six million dollars and has the financial flexibility to pursue his dream, I don’t have empathy. That would have been my dream. I wish him luck. Great story.
No hate, but that’s about as far from a sad story as you can get. He went to Stanford and didn’t pay a nickel. On what Planet is that sad?
You’re the type that rents a cow but dumps the milk. Come on.
Since when do we get to determine exactly who and who doesn’t deserve our empathy. Who the f do any of us think we are to pass judgment on others? Guy made 6m…that’s cool. Doesn’t mean he’s a happy or sad person. What world are we living in where we think we have the right to make those types of judgments? Richard Cory says hi.
No one says a human being doesn’t face struggles. Of course he does. But it’s not a sad story. It’s just another story. Everyone has a story. As far as hard stories go, this ain’t one of them.
Yea really, Some people are more likely to have mental health problems then others reguardless of financial situations. Take me for instance I make about 1000 cad a month and live in subsidized housing more or less in the hood and im never depressed even tho my situation isnt the greatest. While maybe Mark would have had the same situation weather he got the 6 mil or not. Maybe hes experienced alot of death, maybe his wife had a miscarriage who knows, but I know 6 mil doesn’t change how you feel about those situations
Murphy. I wish him the best.
A man who won an All Star MVP in the 60s died homeless, alone, and a John Doe. I feel sorry for all these uneducated, broke players who gave up their lives playing a game that ate them up and spat them out.
There are hundred of turned bad baseball stories. This isn’t isn’t one of those stories. I only objected to the word sad. And who isn’t screwed up I their 20s?
I see your point here Halo. To me this is a sad story too. Right now he may be the biggest draft bust in recent history and that is a lot live down. But at least he’s going out and trying to comeback to the game and at least he gets a shot that like you said a lot of guys didnt get.
Calling someone close minded because you read something into their post is not a good base for your soap box.
Saying you don’t want to hear someone complain is not the same thing as saying they can’t have problems. Did schools stop doing reading comprehension?.
So just because i told one person to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes means I’m having a soapbox? Good to know.
qbert199610 hours ago
doesn’t mean he doesn’t face struggles like we do.
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I’m not sure he faces the same struggles with maybe $4M in the bank.
Past that, imho, the key phrase is ‘like we do’. Everyone has career disappointments,or other disappointments. I’m not saying that people hate their jobs, but how many people simply go to their jobs in order to bring home a paycheck?
I can’t walk a mile in his shoes. Neither can you. Because we cant afford them…..
You think the only struggle in life is money? Sounds like you’ve had a pretty cushy life…
If you are drafted in the early first round and don’t sign I don’t think I’d want you part of my organization just don’t trust those players drive. I think more often then not players that have done that have been disappointing
Generally you’d be right. But not signing with Pittsburgh paid off for him. At least from a draft position and financial standpoint. Also paid off for the Rays in allowing the Pirates to draft Austin Meadows c:
There’s really only 1 other player in recent times that this would even apply to & he was plagued by injuries entirely out of his control. Obviously that’s who you must be talking about, but I’m unsure how one can be “driven enough” to have a better UCL ligament.
What about Carter Stewart who didn’t sign with the Braves after they took him at #8 and then files a baseless, malicious grievance against them?
Carter Stewart is 21 years old. I don’t know how you could make a judgment that he’s been a disappointment or that he’s not driven. He played his first professional season in Japan during COVID. Doesn’t seem lazy to me but idk.
What happened with the Braves (& I’m a Braves fan) is just how it works. It’s bad luck. A physical happened, revealing an injury that chances are may impact his career potential. Again, unsure how it makes him greedy, lazy, or disappointing
He is an example of a player who was drafted in the early first round, didn’t sign and it ended up backfiring on him.
And while I’m not sure lazy is a word I’d use, filing a baseless, malicious grievance against the team that drafted him absolutely makes him greedy and disappointing in my eyes.
He didn’t sign because the physicals had red flags where ATL substantially changed their offer, much like ATL reportedly pulled their offer to to Kirby Yates after his physical. Greedy and disappointing…? Ridiculous.
@RunDMC Not signing wasn’t greedy and disappointing. Filing that grievance was.
Astros did the same with Brady Akin. Unlike the NFL, MLB doesn’t allow a team to get an MRI or dig into the medical history until AFTER a team drafts a player. Sometimes that medical evaluation justifies not signing a player – as with the Akin situation.
Oh. And Karsten Whitson is another player who not signing when he got drafted in the top 10 backfired.
Whitson was a case for NOT getting an agent, or doing GOOD background work before any HS/college kid does.. Whitson 100% trusted his agent, who was supposedly positive SD would “break” at the last minutes of the,,was it 2012 draft?? They didn’t, he was hurt most of his college career and a lowly drafted player.
He cried when not drafted as a HS kid with 8th overall, was counting on the money, but trust in an agent led to POOR results.
Have these same thoughts of lawyers in general for the most part.. They are happy to collect as much as they can and easy to forget to human wreckage left behind and forget who needs what while negotiating. One of the lowest forms of “work” that of course laws are made to protect in most ways when they make mistakes,
Whitson was 2010
I remember hearing somewhere in maybe one of the blogs he use to do or an interview that he returned to Stanford for his senior year because he is a Christian and wanted to mentor a teammate who had just become a Christian. He felt that was more important than cashing in a year earlier. According to Wikipedia his dad is a lawyer for Chevron so it not’s like he would be hurting for money at the time that he needed to sign a mult-million dollar contract. That’s huge risk going back to college risking injury, etc unless he had a good personal reason to do so. And according to this article https://abc13.com/food-sandwich-shop-houston-heights/5503267/ he owns a sandwich business in Houston. So he has a degree from Stanford, is a franchise owner and is a son of a lawyer – I don’t think he has been dumb with his money or is stupid looking for more cash here. He just might be trying to make a comeback because he loves the game of baseball and wants to make the pros. Who wouldn’t want to root for a guy like that? And if he makes it than this is the stuff Hollywood makes sports movies about. #1 Overall Pick out of prestigious Standford quits baseball, gets traded by Astros for Phillies closer who helps cheating Astros win world series, gets injured, quits baseball, makes comeback because he loves the game and makes big leagues for the 1st time in his 30s. Imagine if he threw a no-hitter or helped the Phillies win a world series. How could you not like that story? But hey what do I know?
Rooting for the man.
Love how the theme of the story is “it’s not all about money in life”, yet so many comments focus only on the money anyway.
Even if it were, $6 million after taxes is probably not “set for life” unless he made a conscious decision from day 1 to live modestly. Uncle Sam got more than half of it.
Most players that made that kind of sum still often have to find work after baseball, in coaching, commentating, etc… Players like this become minors coaches all the time.
Three million after taxes is set for life. Three million grows.
As I said, he would’ve had to make the decision from day 1 to live like the rest of us & not spend it like 1st round picks (still basically kids) in any sport spend it.
I’m not saying I feel bad for him or whatever because of the money. Just saying it’s hard to imagine he’s set for life. He’s human just like all the rest of us. It’s easy for us to say we would’ve not changed a thing about our lifestyle.
No state income tax in Texas. My capologist informs me he a $6.3M signing bonus is $5.4M spread out over the lifetime of the contract or if his agent was smart,it’s lumped with the first two years of his minor league deal. Signing the minor league minimum would still have him hovering at $5.6M before his Pennsylvania trade. And probably not the town to be bitching about how rough you have it. Look at Wentz for goodness sake.
The feds alone take a flat 37% on a signing bonus above $1 million.
Slipped my mind about TX, however, I’m unsure if, as a nonresident from CA, he would be subject to the same rules as residents (I just don’t care enough to do more than a quick Google search). I think my mind is tainted by the state I live in… 🙂
Also. Agents take between 10-20% of the bonus, as well.
I wish!
You just put the money into trust.
“bitching about how rough he had it”? He’s sharing his story as a human being, not some “millionaire chirping about how rough he had it”. In case you’ve been living under a rock, millionaires struggle with mental health just the same as “regular Joe’s” like yourself. You just come off sounding bitter
He would be making $200,000 annually off the interest while in his mid 20’s.
Maybe not fit for life but he does not have to live modestly for at least twenty years.
I agree with schellis.This guy thought that he was worth more than he really was.I recall that the Astros gave him some sort of special treatment once he was signed and the ML players were not happy about it.Any professional sport is a dog eat dog highly competitive situation and some players just are not mentally ready for that,especially if they have been pampered throughout their career.
He seemed to have a lot of promise as a pitcher and perhaps he started putting too much pressure on himself when he realized that it was not high school or college anymore.Or maybe he was just not that good.Or maybe he could not cope with the inevitable arm injuries that every pitcher eventually faces.I hope that he can realize the extent of whatever physical tools that he has,but he has missed a lot of time.and it will be tough to compete against much younger players now.
Are you really trying to act like it’s not about money for him? The guy was drafted 3 times…he absolutely cared about $.
The dude was at Stanford. You act like he was working at Dairy Queen after not signing
He was only at one of the top 5 colleges in the entire freakin country
i figured he wasnt done. heck, might as well.
Well I can understand that maybe he lacked the mental fortitude to keep up with his and others expectations. Regular life can be hard enough. Money or not it ain’t easy. Perhaps he just really needed to grow up more and he will come out guns blazing and roast dudes at the plate. I’m in his corner.
His greed cost him, he set himself up to higher standards then he could handle. You can only blame him for failing as a top pick.
If you ask for a raise, is that greed? If you turn down a job offer because 1. you don’t love the location 2. the company isnt a great fit and 3. it doesn’t pay as much as you know you’re worth, are you greedy?
If he can figure it out, he might make a couple millions as a backend starter for some teams.
Said this on another post but worth mentioning here regarding his draft/prospect status:
Scouts love the college arms that look projectable and are further developed, but often attach the word “frontline starter” to them when they probably won’t get much better than what you see. Looking at guys like Jon Gray, Carlos Rondon, Carson Fulmer, Kyle Wright, and potentially Casey Mize (though FAR too early).
Appel appeared to be headed towards that group of once-thought can’t miss frontline guy towards serviceable starters. Beyond the personal stuff that factored into him stepping away, his stuff never really elevated or played the way perhaps the scouts thought it could when he was drafted. Definitely major-league caliber, like the others, but we’ll see how good he may still be.
Have a 1-1 pick not at least make it to the majors is a disappointment.
I will forgive his past decisions, and I am totally advocating for him if he decides to pursue his dream again!
I am also announcing a potential comeback.
Sounds like a victim of his own mind. Would be floored if he doesn’t make it to the show; seems like lots of people want to see it happen, and then Disney could make a crappy movie about it starring Scarlett Johansson.
Scarlett Johansson as Mark Appel, I would watch.
It’d be hilarious if he fully realized his comeback hopes and became a solid back-end rotation guy for a few years.
Crazy to think a guy who I went to high school with is also one of the craziest draft stories in baseball over the last decade plus.
Amazing how many idiots here ignore he went to freakin Stanford while not signing. He wasn’t just betting on the money. He was also betting on getting an education from one of the best colleges in the world, while working to also get better money. Let’s just ignore basic facts to help us rip a guy to shreds!
the reason i dont knock the money thing is 1. he has every right to come back for money reasons if someone will give him a shot and 2. give a guy a few million and a Stanford education and he probably *is* set for life. i would imagine its closure if anything that he’s mainly back for and that’s perfectly fine by me.
If he has a degree from Stanford, and $3M in the bank, all the more reason to not be dripping with sympathy.
he’ll still only be 30 next year at this time. why do people say, still only (insert age)? leave out the still. just say only 29 you can only be still for a year
He should’ve signed when the Pirates drafted him. Probably would’ve had a Cy Young and at least 50 wins by now..
And been traded to the Rays among others for a sore armed pitcher.
I see a lot of confusion and miscommunication here…
It’s not that Appel is unworthy of pity or sympathy because he has money.
It’s just that there are literally billions of people ahead of him in the sympathy line.
I hope he invested his signing bonus money wisely. I’m rooting for him to get back
Give that Dr a huge bonus.
And why shouldn’t he
In terms of stuff, I wonder if the recent advances in what I’ll call the science of pitching could be a factor in his possible future success.
If his stuff never played up to projections and his fastball was too strait, these advanced capabilities might make a difference.
It’s truly sad the lack of empathy that people feel towards other. A decent response is to wish him the best and hope things work out. Sadly, this is the cultures live in.
If there are 7B people in the world, how many of those 7B is he better off than? Unless you want to have empathy, for literally 95% of the world, then I have a tough time having sympathy for Appel.
Put another way, of the 39 1st rounders in 2013, 23 of them have careers bWARs of less than 1.0. Are you equally empathetic for the 23 of them, that their career goals didn’t work out? Or all the Julliard graduates that work as accountants, and get $50/night to play at the local pub?
If Todd Van Poppel could overcome too high expectations and a very straight fastball to go on to a decent career as reliever why not Appel? Jason Motte didn’t have much besides his fastball and he put up a few good years. Might as well see what his body can give him before he regrets it later.
I was thinking the same thing. Appel doesn’t look like he has any BP exposure. Why not give it a try, make it back to the pros, and throw your arm out in 3-4 years, but still collect a paycheck. Matt Bush was a former 1/1, struggled with alcohol, dropped out of being a SS, converted to an RP, got hurt, and is still coming back.
I came here for the Todd Van Poppel reference and I was not disappointed.
This was an interesting read (comments).. I remember when Appel walked away..I remember at the time silently booing..What Phan at the time wouldn’t..
Butttttt…..that was then and this is now…..now, I just wish him success..
Appel was always overrated. I’m not sure what scouts were seeing. It was obvious that the stuff wouldn’t play.