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| Mark Appel is the #1 pick |
With the first pick in yesterday's MLB draft, the Houston Astros drafted RHP Mark Appel from Stanford. In completely different fashion to last year, the Astros went with the expensive college arm instead of the cheap high school talent, a move that will pay off quickly.
As I said in my mock draft, the Astros need pitchers, specifically a front-of-the-rotation ace to be the main building block of their rebuilding efforts.
Appel is the most polished prospect in this class, so there's every chance that he could be in the big leagues by this point next year. MLB Network's Harold Reynolds went as far to say that he'll be up with the Astros major league club by NEXT MONTH. While that is pretty unlikely, it just shows how highly Appel is thought of by people involved with the sport.
After shunning the Pirates last year after being drafted with their eighth pick, Appel returned to school with hopes of improving his draft stock. Supposing that the Stanford product is a Houston native, it must be a dream come true to be drafted by his hometown team, which in turn should ensure that the signing process is quick and easy.
By going back to school, Appel was able to improve his off-speed stuff as well as his delivery, both aspects of his game that were criticized in the run up to last year's draft. Add in the improvements with his already strong combination of his fastball, slider and changeup (All plus pitches), and Appel has the makings of a future ace.
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