• Full name Mark Stewart Appel
  • Born 07/15/1991 in Houston, TX
  • Profile Ht.: 6'5" / Wt.: 220 / Bats: R / Throws: R
  • School Stanford
  • Debut 06/29/2022
  • Drafted in the 1st round (1st overall) by the Houston Astros in 2013 (signed for $6,350,000).
    View Draft Report
    Appel picked up where he left off last year, after he turned down $3.8 million from the Pirates as the eighth overall pick. As a senior, he fine-tuned his stuff and graduated with a degree in management science and engineering. He shows everything scouts look for in a frontline pitcher. He's 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds with a clean delivery, and he is a solid athlete who played basketball in high school. Appel's fastball sits in the mid-90s and gets as high as 98 mph, and he holds his velocity deep into games. His slider is a plus pitch that generates swings and misses with its sharp, late break. Under Stanford pitching coach Rusty Filter--who was Stephen Strasburg's pitching coach at San Diego State--Appel has gotten a little more downhill with his fastball and has improved his changeup as a senior, and it should be at least an average third offering. Appel has improved every year at Stanford and dominated as a senior, and he should move quickly through the minor leagues.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Draft Prospects

Minor League Top Prospects

Top 100 Rankings

Best Tools List

  • Rated Best Slider in the Houston Astros in 2014

Career Transactions

  • Lehigh Valley IronPigs released RHP Mark Appel.
  • RHP Mark Appel assigned to Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
  • Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent RHP Mark Appel to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.
  • RHP Mark Appel roster status changed by Philadelphia Phillies.

Download our app

Read the newest magazine issue right on your phone