Daily News | Phillies’ Mark Appel finally arrives in the majors -- and in San Diego
SAN DIEGO — When Mark Appel arrived in Troy, N.Y., in 2013 to play for the Houston Astros’ low-A affiliate, he didn’t think he’d be there for very long. He didn’t think he’d be in the minor leagues for very long, either.
It did not pan out that way. Instead, Appel spent seven years waiting for his call. He struggled with elbow and shoulder injuries. He was traded to the Phillies in 2015, and in 2018, he realized that the sport that once gave him so much joy was not fun for him anymore, so he walked away from it. He sat in the visitors’ dugout on Saturday afternoon, a 30-year-old rookie, wearing a Phillies cap instead of an Astros cap. He was there to pitch out of the bullpen, not out of the rotation. He had no multi-million dollar contracts, he had no championship rings. Nothing had gone according to plan — not even his flight. But he felt at peace.
“If you want to win ball games, everyday, you’ve got to be prepared,” he told his team. “You’ve got to be ready to go in when your name is called. If you aren’t prepared, you’re not going to win a lot of games here. If you’re not prepared, you’re never going to get to go to the big leagues.”“That’s exactly what this guy’s been doing,” Contreras said. “Mark, you’re going to the big leagues.”
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