I heard earlier this season than the Astros had sent Mark Appel back from A ball to Extended Spring Training because he was ineffective. Well the sent him back to A ball for his first game and the results were down right awful. So many things seem to be headed in the right direction with the Astros rebuild. I wonder what has happened to Appel. He was a consensus top 10 pick for two straight years. How could he be such a mess?

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At High Class A Lancaster on Saturday, the top pick a year ago, Mark Appel, was shelled in his first game since leaving extended spring training. Having trouble adjusting to pro ball and the Astros’ tandem rotation system after missing most of spring training, Appel in April was sent to the team’s complex in Florida to get right.

If he’s right, the results didn’t show it the first time out.

Appel threw 1 1/3 innings, allowed 10 hits, 10 runs one walk and three home runs. He faced 15 batters and struck out two. The opposing team was a Dodgers affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, who had a pitching phenom on the hill opposite Appel, 17-year-old lefty Julio Urias.

Appel’s situation isn’t a good one. He’s an expensive, important piece in this organization, who has essentially been stalled for two-fifths of the season, but still has time and the talent to put together a strong second half.

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http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/05/31/appel-has-rough-go-of-it-in-return-to-class-a-lancaster-rotation/#22102103=0&23830101=0

look at his pitch counts at Stanford his last 2 seasons. There was concern.

Scouts are not happy with what N.C. State did to Rodon this year

It's early.



I think he will be ok. He had an emergency appendectomy in March. I think he's going to be fine once he starts stacking up more innings at Lancaster.

Some take longer to get adjusted to the next level, even if studs in college. I think he'll get where we need him soon enough

Can any stats we see of his this season please exclude that start?

The Astros adopted some idiotic pitching regimen. I am going to guess that's causing this

Care to elaborate how tandem pitching is messing him up? Or do you just make stuff up?

He's not used to it. They should just let him be

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The Astros adopted some idiotic pitching regimen. I am going to guess that's causing this

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Good to see you've researched that opinion.

Running Appel out there with no ST after surgery didn't help things. I'm with Irish here, once he gets some more innings he'll be fine. Just trying to catch up with everyone else at this point of the season.

It's obvious Token knows more about developing pitching talent than Jeff Luhnow.


How about the dozens of other pitchers doing just find under the tandem system.

People are all reacting to 14.1 IP in the minors in the most offense inducing ballpark in all of pro baseball like it's the end all be all to this kids career. SSS people.

He had offseason surgery and has had 1 start since he was sent to extended spring training to rehab. Can we maybe give him more than 1 start before we write him off?

Its not looking good for him so far. Meanwhile Jonathan gray has played well.

Yeah, I guess Keith law is also a moron

"Appel's inability to adjust to Houston's four-day tandem rotation scheme isn't at all his fault, nor is it any kind of demerit toward his prospect status; the tandem system has its merits, but I wouldn't want to experiment like that with the first overall pick in the draft and my top pitching prospect."

Keith Law = talking head


Jeff Luhnow = running a franchise



Keith law is the guy that graded Chris Sale's slider at a max potential of 45 on the scout scale.

http://www.southsidesox.com/2011/12/1/2603257/keith-law-still-cannot-admit-he-was-wrong-about-chris-sale



All the people scoffed at Billy Beane's radical ideas early on also.

Is the tandem rotation the perfect way to do things. I don't know.

Should a 1.1 struggle with it when tons of non first pick overalls are just fine with it, no.

I don't see how the tandem pitching would really mess up a pitcher that bad. I guess it could mess with their rhythm however like others said, it's not bothering other pitchers in the system.

Hopefully it's just a health thing and he will get back to form. He was supposed to be the "safe" pick.

The good thing is that his stuff still appears to be there. He was between 95-97 with his fastball in extended spring training

This could also be the case of him working on a specific pitch. That's what keuchel was doino in sprigeneral training and he was getting lit up.

He just got back from extended spring he wasn't working on one pitch and even if he was, at that level with his talent he should work through them. The Astros fumbled this one out of spring training and it's gonna cost an extra year in the minors. At least we don't need starting pitching on the big club

This will probably cost us the 2014 World Series title.