An Interview with Astros RHP Mark Appel

[As a side note, I conducted this interview via phone early Wednesday evening last week. Later that night, Mark took ill and ended up in the hospital having an emergency appendectomy the next day. I later exchanged text messages with him and he in no way blames me for the illness so I am fervently hoping that I will not be cut off from access to players by the Astros front office. I promise that I didn't break him!]

Upon reading this December Fan Graphs interview with Astros 2013 first round (first overall) draft pick Mark Appel, I was taken aback by just how analytically he approaches the game of baseball and the art of pitching. When we talked last week, he cemented this impression with me as he responded thoughtfully and deliberately to each of my questions.

Mark Appel - July 2013

Warming up for his first professional start

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I briefly met Appel in Tri-City in July 2013, the evening before his professional debut. I reminded him of that meeting and I posited that he seemed a bit overwhelmed by the initial attention he received surrounding that first start, an assumption that Mark confirmed. "It was pretty overwhelming. Obviously, I don't think it was any secret that I wasn't necessarily very pleased with my first outing. First pro pitch is a lead-off triple." He didn't expect the sheer number of fans looking for autographs either. "It was overwhelming. Especially with my family being there in Tri-City. I was really excited to get to see them after the game. The fans were great at Tri-City, [but] sometimes you could be out there for 30 or 40 minutes after the game signing autographs. Once I stepped in the water and got used to it, it was fine, but that first step was a little overwhelming."

Appel continued, "[I was] just kind of feeling the pressure of being the first pick and having all these high expectations. I think once I had that first outing, I felt like a weight had been lifted. 'Alright, now it's just time to pitch. I got that out of the way. Now it's just back to the everyday grind.' I almost put that first outing on a pedestal a little bit. It should be just like any other outing, just like any other time I'd step out on the mound."

Knowing that Appel has been asked to death about his draft experience, I gave it a twist and asked him what advice he would give a player undergoing a similar experience. "First of all, it would depend on the situation because I think every situation is unique. During my decision process, I talked to one or two college seniors ... that had been drafted and returned [but] it wasn't quite the same stage as the public stage of my situation. Being a first rounder and going back for your senior year is kind of unheard of.

"I guess the best advice I could give is believe in yourself. Believe in what you know you can do. I realized that whether I signed with the Pirates or returned to Stanford, I was going to get better. I truly believed that because of my work ethic and my attitude, my approach to the game and my approach to working out. I knew that I was going to get better whether I signed or went back to school. That really relieved a lot of pressure.

"You kind of have this idea, if I'm in pro ball that's the best opportunity for me to get better because those are the best players in the game, but that may not necessarily be true. Fortunately, I was at Stanford playing in the Pac-12, playing a very tough college schedule and I knew I was going to be able to pitch against some really, really talented players. It might not be the same depth from one to nine in the line up that you might see in pro ball, but knowing that I would have a chance to get better, a chance to work on my pitches, a chance to work on pitching inside, I knew that I really couldn't make a bad decision.

"Then it really came down to other things. For me, it was education and relationships and there were so many factors that really went into it. But I think honestly knowing that I would have a chance to get better instead of fearing getting injured or not playing as well, my focus was on the things that I needed to do to get better, the things I needed to do to help the team go to Omaha. Those kind of things were on the forefront of my mind and I really didn't have any regrets because of that, because I knew how hard I was going to work."

Appel's detailed thought process was never more in evidence than it was when I asked him about the "fosh" which he uses as a changeup. "I learned the fosh when I was in high school and I couldn't throw it consistently. I feel like the thing about pitching is making adjustments and finding out what works for you. I essentially just kept playing with the grip until I could throw it consistently and with the movement I was looking for and the velocity difference, and also just throw it for strikes, more importantly."

He went on to describe the grip he uses for his fosh. "Essentially, it's like a modified split-change. Your second and third finger kind of split the narrow part of the seams like ... a two-seam grip. If you picked up a ball like you would a two-seam fastball and then spread your fingers just a little bit so they kind of hug the seams and then you brought your fourth and fifth fingers up to catch your third finger and put your thumb on the bottom of the ball, that would essentially be a standard fosh grip.

"What I do is actually grip it a little bit deeper so my fingers split a little bit more (I have a pretty big hand) and can actually circle my pointer finger and my thumb. So instead of having my thumb on the bottom, I kind of bring it up to the side and I make a circle similar to what you'd see [in] a circle changeup [with] my second and third fingers still hug[ging] those seams."

Mark Appel - July 2013

First pro start

Photo by Jayne Hansen

I asked Appel about that Fan Graphs interview and mentioned his analytical side. He responded, "I think that's just how my mind works. I enjoy challenging myself mentally. I think that's why I enjoyed Stanford so much -- not just the great baseball team, but some of the top academics and really getting to engage in intellectual discussions in class and getting to hear some pretty cool guest speakers in different lectures and stuff like that. Stanford was definitely a place for me."

What does Appel feel that he's accomplished in the last year and what does he still need to work on most? "I guess I feel real good about all my pitches, but I'm also trying to work on all my pitches to get them to the next level. A lot of that is the mentality of it, of pitching, just learning how to pitch and using your different pitches in different situations in order to make other pitches better.

"I think one of the things I want to continue to work on that I feel I took a big stride last year at Stanford [is] pitching inside. I know how effective that can be at the pro level. [Also] the scouting side, understanding the team that I'm facing and doing my due diligence. Assuming I'll be facing the top guys on their team, what pitches will get them out and essentially [using] what I bring to the table and placing it in the puzzle of trying to figure out how to get through the line up."

We then moved on to a few questions I like to ask in a not-so-subtle attempt to get to know some of the other players in the system better, the first being who in the Astros system has a pitch that he'd like to steal. "The short time I got to spend in Quad Cities while Vince Velasquez was there, his changeup was just awesome. I got to chart pitches for him a few times and whenever he was throwing his changeup down in the zone and consistently working off his fastball, it almost seemed like he was unhittable [which] probably prompted his promotion to Lancaster. Usually he was on. His changeup was one of the better ones I've seen in a while. I like my changeup and I enjoy throwing it, but I think his changeup is one of the top ones that I've seen."

Appel continued, "Lance McCullers, his fastball, whenever he'd get it up there in the upper 90's and if he kept the ball down, he was just dominant. We had some good conversations." If McCullers ever got a little hard on himself after a less than stellar outing, Mark would remind him that he had been a freshman in college putting up a 6.00 ERA when he was Lance's age. Of McCullers, Appel said, "He's still young and he's going to be really, really good. I know the Astros are excited to have him as a part of the organization. Hopefully, he'll be in Houston sooner than later. He's going to be a really good player."

What Astros hitter would he least like to face? "That's a tough question because I enjoy getting to face tough hitters. It challenges me. Tony Kemp is a tough out. His strike zone shrinks a little bit and he's a good hitter too. The fact that he's a little bit shorter than most players and can really put the bat on the ball is tough.

"In Quad Cities, Rio [Ruiz] was great, especially towards the end of the year. He was on a tear. No one could get him out and he just had such a nice compact powerful swing. And then Carlos [Correa] was just consistent all year. So those three guys kind of stood out to me a little bit. Rio and Carlos were impressive just because they were doing it [at] 18, 19 years old and having that kind of success."

Was there a player that he liked to just sit back and watch? It turns out that there were several on the very talented Quad Cities team. "I just enjoyed getting to watch the game, especially when I was shut down. Carlos was making great plays at short stop. Teoscar [Hernandez] was making awesome plays in center field. Rio was over at third and Tony and Catfish [Austin Elkins] at second -- they were fun to watch. And [Roberto] Pena's got a great arm. I felt like we had such a great team in Quad Cities that all those guys were fun to watch. Lance and I, because he was shut down too, we would just sit in the dugout and just watch the game, talk baseball. It was a good time."

Who on the team made him laugh? "Tony's pretty funny. He's a character. I think Lance is pretty funny. He's a lot of fun to talk to. Every time you talk to him, you always have a smile on your face just because he's so excited about whatever. He's very animated. Off the top of my head, those guys are some of the funnier guys. And then when you get Joe Bircher and Brian Holmes together, that's quite a sight to see. They're doing all these voices and impersonations and sitting in on their conversations is just hilarious."

When I asked him if there was something he could share about himself that most people don't know about him, he was hard-pressed to think of something. "I feel like I have a mild Dr. Pepper addiction. It's my favorite drink which is probably not a good thing because sodas aren't the best for you. I'm learning how to control it and limit it."

So I rephrased the question. If you've read anything about Mark Appel or follow him on twitter, you know that his faith is very important to him. I asked him what besides baseball and his faith gets him excited. "I enjoy sports in general. I've played fantasy baseball and football for a couple of years. I feel like I'm a big foodie. I enjoy trying new foods. I enjoy discovering new recipes although I'm not a very good cook so I'd prefer for other people [to do] the cooking for me. As far as the kind of things I do on an everyday basis, it's working out, doing all my baseball stuff, getting in the Word, the Bible." He also recently took up bow-hunting and is looking forward to doing more hunting. He will be seeking advice from his Spring Training roommate Josh Fields, an avid hunter, on guns and hunting.

The final question I asked him was what it was like working out with the big leaguers in the off season. He said, "They're just guys too. It's funny because I've seen these guys ... on TV and you get this idea that they're big leaguers and they have this kind of aura to them. They've gotten there. They're living life, I guess. And when you meet them and you start talking to them and get to know them, [you see] these guys are just regular guys that are just really good at baseball."

He thinks that getting to know the big league players better will benefit him heading into Spring Training, "As a first year big league Spring Training invitee, I think it's easy to get intimidated by the presence of big league guys, established big league guys, veteran big league players. It's been great, just getting to work out there [Minute Maid Park] and meet some of these guys, getting to know them on a personal level because I'm hoping we'll all be teammates within the near future."

At the recent Astros Fan Fest, someone said of Appel, "He's Baseball, Bible and No Distractions." There may be a few minor distractions along the way, but there is no doubt that he is very focused on the task at hand, that of stepping on that mound at Minute Maid Park in an Astros uniform for the first time. His talent will get him most of the way, but I have no doubt that it is his intelligence and analytical abilities that will take him the rest of the way.

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Thank you for your time, Mark, and the best of luck in the coming season. See you in Houston sooner rather than later.