Mark Appel exhibition notes and footage

It has been a few days since the IronPigs hosted the Fightins for the final pre-season exhibition on Tuesday. The contest saw the Triple-A Lehigh Valley team notch a comeback victory over the Double-A Reading squad by a score of 5-3.

Lehigh Valley righty pitcher Mark Appel, who missed more than half of last season after requiring surgery on his pitching arm, had a tough outing, letting up three earned runs in two innings of work.

I received a few questions online about his efforts (he threw 40 pitches, 25 of those were strikes, he struck out two, walked one and hit a batter while allowing four hits against his organization mates), his health (he is said to be 100-percent) and his velocity (mostly 91-93 with the fastball). With footage of all four batters he faced in the opening frame, I figured I would publish them, for anyone interested in taking a look.

The 25-year-old Appel, who was the first overall draft pick by Houston in 2013, is slated to be the IronPigs' fifth starter.

In his first season in the Phils organization after being acquired from the Astros in the Ken Giles trade, the Stanford product posted a 3-3 record with a 4.46 ERA and a .267 batting average against in eight starts for the IronPigs last year.

Appel was ranked on this site as the Phillies' number 21 prospect entering the 2017 season.

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