MLB Draft: 4 first overall picks to never make it to ‘The Show’

Mark Appel, RHP

• 21 years-old
• 2013 MLB Draft
• Houston Astros
• $6.35 million 

After striking out 11 batters per nine and posting a 2.12 ERA in 106.1 innings for Stanford in 2013, the 6-foot-5 Mark Appel went first overall in the 2013 MLB Draft to the Houston Astros. Perhaps one of the most exciting right-handers the draft had seen in years, Appel was pegged as the centerpiece of Houston’s rebuild, and at the time Ben Reiter from Sports Illustrated called him “as risk-free a pitcher pick as has ever been made.”

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Well, there’s no doubt Appel was a talented pitcher, but he’ll also go down as perhaps one of (if not the biggest) MLB busts to be taken no. 1 overall.

Appel’s $6 million+ signing bonus began to look like a bad investment quite quickly within his professional career. After just 10 starts spread across short-season and Single-A ball during his draft year, Appel almost immediately ran into trouble during his first full pro season in 2014, posting a 9.79 ERA while with the High-A Lancaster team. Although, not long after the All-Star break, despite his evident struggles, Appel was still promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi, where he tossed 39 solid innings (3.69 ERA). The 2014 season ended, the Astros posted another losing season (granted, a 19-win improvement), though Appel impressed again pitching for the Salt River team in the Arizona Fall League, flashing a 2.90 ERA in seven starts (31 IP).

At that point, heading into his age-23 season in 2015, Appel’s progression as a former top-pick certainly featured some ups and downs, but his strong performance down the stretch in the season prior had Houston feeling like he was ready for more of a challenge (or perhaps ready for a last chance to prove himself).

Deployed to the Corpus Christi club again to kick off the ’15 campaign, Appel’s results this time were uninspiring (4.26 ERA), and a June call-up to Triple-A Fresno didn’t result in any improvements (4.48 ERA) either. Therefore, in December of 2015 — after finishing the season with a 4.37 ERA in 131.2 innings, and a career ERA of 5.02 at that point — the Astros traded Appel to the Phillies in a seven-player deal that landed them reliever Ken Giles.

But things got even worse for Appel…

Multiple shoulder injuries cost Appel time on the mound, but the Phillies continued to give him opportunities, where he eventually concluded his pro career with the GCL Phillies while attempting to rehab back from one of his ailments at the tail end of the 2017 season. Two years in Philadelphia’s organization, featuring a combined 25 starts and 166 innings — Appel never could do what needed to be done to reach the big leagues.

Appel has since moved on from baseball. After laboring for five seasons in the minors and just a career 5.06 ERA to show for, the righty has hung up his cleats. Although, despite his failed attempts at living up to his no. 1 pick and becoming a star major league pitcher, Appel at least appears to have a positive attitude about his middling pro baseball career:

"“I don’t know what the future holds. I’m pursuing other things, but also trying to become a healthy human. I’m 26, I have a Stanford degree, I have many interests beyond baseball, which I still love, but I have a lot of things I care about. I enjoy challenging my mind. My last four years in baseball have challenged my mind.”"

Good for him.