A whole new ballgame

By joshjacksonmilb

By Josh Jackson

Talk to a dozen pitchers about playing at a new level or in a new league, and you’re likely to hear varieties of the same two answers. “It’s the same game. Only the ballpark and uniforms are different.” Or: “Guys up here are a lot more selective, and they never miss anything that catches too much of the plate.”

Mark Appel, this year’s №1 overall Draft pick, recently admitted that pitching in the pros is significantly different than pitching in college ball and not only because of hitters’ pitch selectivity. (Actually, the common part of his answer runs the other direction: “It’s still baseball. You still have to throw strikes.”)

For Appel, making starts more often has been a challenge, even if you’d never guess it from his performance.

“The biggest adjustment is the five-day rotation, and it’s more throwing than I’m used to. It’s two less days of rest compared to the college game,” he said. “Throwing a bullpen [session] two days after you pitch is different, but I’m OK with it. And, we’re taking it slowly, obviously — I’m throwing two, three, four innings.”

The break from competitive pitching between the college season and his first pro start hasn’t made the transition any easier, physically.

“I’m not at my midseason form from Stanford, obviously. God willing, I’m not going to get hurt from [pitching more frequently]. Neither the Astros nor myself will allow me to push beyond the limits of safety,” he said. “I’m sure in my next outing I’ll go four or five innings, based on my pitch count. I’m taking it slow.”

Even if the transition has been slow and somewhat trying, Appel’s been having a blast.

“I’ve had fun, but I think working hard and getting to play baseball is fun. It’s killing two birds with one stone,” he said. “And, we’ve had some time off. I’ve been getting to grab dinner with some of the guys. It’s been great meeting guys in the organization, and we have fun in the locker room. On the field, we’re working hard, but that’s fun to me.”

When Appel was assigned to Class A Quad Cities last week, he joined Carlos Correa, and they became the first ever consecutive №1 picks to be on the same Minor League team. They’ve talked baseball and had normal teammate conversations, but they haven’t compared notes on their Draft experiences.

“Our experiences are pretty different because of our backgrounds — he was picked out of high school, I was a college senior; he’s a position player, I’m a pitcher. They’re different experiences and there’ve been different expectations,” Appel said. “From what I can tell, he’s handled everything great. He’s really focused.”