ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Mark Appel knows people think he’s crazy. The right-handed pitcher was the first overall pick of a draft that produced Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Kris Bryant. That draft was nine years ago. Judge is a three-time All-Star. Bellinger was the 2019 National League MVP. Bryant helped bring the Cubs’ 108-year World Series drought to an end. And Appel, who turns 31 on July 15, has yet to throw a big-league pitch.
So, yes, he knows people think he’s crazy. Crazy for still pitching, crazy for leaving the game in 2017, and crazy for having the gall to come back in 2021. But he insists he is a logical thinker. On an overcast mid-May day in Allentown, his new home and the site of the Phillies’ triple-A affiliate, Lehigh Valley, he points to the facts.
“If I couldn’t pick up a baseball anymore, it would be foolish to try to play at my age,” he said. “But I knew that when I was healthy in the past, I was pretty good. So it wouldn’t be foolish to think that if I can be healthy, and get my feet under me, I can have success.”
