Mark Appel Scouting Report

Published: 2^nd Sep 11 3:42 pm

by Chris Ransom
New England Patriots and Dallas Stars Featured Columnist

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Biography Mark Appel Pitcher Stanford

Pros

Arm Strength: Mark Appel delivers a very powerful throwing motion when delivering pitches at the plate.

Mechanics: Mark Appel displayed outstanding pitching mechanics in 2010. Unless his mechanics take a ta a step back Appel’s mechanics are a pro rather than a con at this point.

Durability: Appel rarely gets injured.

Size: Appel is 6 foot 5 190 pounds. Appel has the upside to put on some weight and become a deadly starter due to his height at 6 foot 5 inches.

Learning Rate: Appel learns to adjust to different pitching roles at a very fast rate.

Awareness: Appel has amazing awareness for a pitching prospect.

Baseball IQ: Appel has a very high baseball IQ and an outstanding understanding of where pitches should be pitched by throwing proper pitches in the proper locations of the strike zone.

Intangibles: Appel has a variety of pitching intangibles that he brings to the table.

4 Seam Fastball: Appel throws a 97 mile per hour 4 seam fastball.

2 Seam Fastball: Appel throws a 95 mile per hour 2 seam fastball.

Cutter Fastball: Appel throws a 92 mile per hour cutt

Slider: Appel throws a 92 mile per hour slider.

Change Up: Mark Appel throws an 85 mile per hour change up.

Velocity: Mark Appel has top notch velocity for a pitcher.

Pitching Accuracy: Mark Appel has pinpoint pitching accuracy for a pitcher. Its difficult for a pitcher to have deadly velocity while pitching accurate pitches at the same time.

ERA: Mark Appel lowered his ERA from 5.92 as a relief pitcher in his freshman campaign to 3.02 as the primary starter anchoring a rotation during his sophomore season.

Strikeout Ace: Appel posted 86 strike outs in his first full year as a starting pitcher.

Innings Pitched: Appel pitched 104.1 innings in 2011 for Stanford. Appel also managed to maintain a minimum of 6 innings pitched in each start.

Does not Allow Home Runs: Appel only surrendered 2 home runs all season with Stanford in 2011. I am having trouble deciding which Stanford feat is more impressive. Stanford pitcher Mark Appel only surrendered 2 home runs during his sophomore season at Stanford. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck only got sacked 5 times during his sophomore year at Stanford.

Pitches against the the best pitchers in the country: Appel went 1-3 against 4 MLB pitching prospects who got drafted in the top 100 of the 2011 MLB Draft. Appel generated a win over Trevor Bauer drafted 3rd overall, he lost to Taylor Jungmann drafted 12th overall, he lost to Sonny Gray drafted 18th overall, and he lost to Andrew Gagnon drafted 100th overall.

#1 Starter: Mark Appel is the #1 starter in Stanford’s pitching rotation. Appel was the top starter in Stanford’s rotation last season.

Franchise Player: Mark Appel has the skill set to become a franchise player. Let me just summarize it this way. Mark Appel is the Andrew Luck of the 2012 MLB Draft. His pitching is that dominant on the mound.

Production: Appel displayed signs of being a top 5 pick down the road with his performance in 2011. Appel stepped up at the 2011 College World Series helping Stanford win the Fullerton Regional before Stanford lost the Super Regional to North Carolina.

Potential: Mark Appel has the potential to be a #1 starter down the road in the MLB.

Cons

None

My thoughts on Mark Appel

The only remote flaw that I see with Mark Appel in terms of cons at this point is his losing record. Appel pitched against 4 pitchers who got drafted in the top 100. Appel went 1-3 against those 4 pitchers Take away those 3 losses against top 100 MLB Draft picks Appel could easily be 9-4 rather than 6-7. I am not counting those losses against Mark Appel because he actually went up against quality competition in his first full year as a #1 starter as a sophomore after being the teams relief pitcher during his freshman campaign.

Like Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck its really difficult to notice many if any flaws in Appel’s pitching at Stanford at this point.

I said the same things about Mark Appel that I said about TCU ace Matt Purke in my Matt Purke scouting report before Purke’s injury with his blisters that would go on to affect his throwing motion in 2011 dropping him to the 3rd round of the 2011 MLB Draft. Unless Appel has a Purke like year in 2012 there is a good chance Appel is the top pick in June’s 2012 MLB Draft.

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