The 2013 Major League Baseball draft got underway Thursday, and the Houston Astros took Stanford pitcher Mark Appel with the first overall pick.
Appel was taken eighth overall last year by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the hurler elected to go back to school for his sophomore season, and pitch his way to a higher spot. In 106.1 innings for Stanford, he went 10-4 with a 2.12 ERA while striking out 130 batters. By going first overall this time around, Appel seems to have made the correct decision.
"I don't think I necessarily had an end goal in mind when I turned down the Pirates' offer," said Appel. "My goals were to finish my degree and become a better baseball player and better person and better teammate. As far as that goes, I think I accomplished those things. No matter what happened in the draft, I knew I had done everything that was in my control to put myself in the best situation possible."
Appel is known for a major-league ready heater that he pairs with a slider. Scouts say Appel also has a changeup in his bag of tricks that will eventually become a key part of his arsenal.
The Chicago Cubs drafted slugging third baseman Kris Bryant out of San Diego with the second pick, while the Colorado Rockies took pitcher Jonathan Gray, who has recently been clouded with charges of Adderall use.
"I'm not going to talk about that right now," Gray said. "There will be a time for that. Right now, I'm just happy to be selected by the Rockies." Adderall is believed by many to be a masking agent of steroid use, and is legal with a prescription, which Gray does not seem to have.
Still, the Rockies were enticed by his huge frame, Gray is six feet four inches and 245 lbs., and gaudy strikeout numbers, 138 in 119 innings. At Oklahoma this year Gray was 10-2 with a 1.59 ERA
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