As the Phillies prepare for opening day, former phenom Mark Appel is attempting to restart his career | Extra Innings

Well, here we are. It’s Opening Day Eve, 184 days since the Phillies last played a game that counted, and frankly, there isn’t much left to say. At 3:05 p.m. Thursday, with a crowd of 8,800 fans expected at Citizens Bank Park, Aaron Nola will deliver the first pitch of the 2021 season against the Atlanta Braves.

One more day. Baseball is almost back.

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— Scott Lauber (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

Three years ago, when Mark Appel announced he was taking an “indefinite” break from baseball, he didn’t know if he would play again. He didn’t really care, either.

“I was focused on surviving,” he said this week. “I was hurting.”

Physically, Appel pitched through injuries — a bone spur in his right elbow that required surgery and shoulder inflammation — for two seasons in triple A with the Phillies. But there was also the mental strain of not living up to expectations after being drafted first overall in 2013 by his hometown Houston Astros, who gave him a $6.35 million signing bonus.

Appel lost his enthusiasm for the game. He dreaded the idea of rehabbing his shoulder. The Phillies removed him from the 40-man roster after the 2017 season, reducing his chances of reaching the majors. He did the only thing that made sense. He stepped away from the game.

So, Appel realizes that it might come as a surprise that he was quarantining in a hotel in Clearwater, Fla., this week in preparation for attending the Phillies’ minor-league camp. Four months shy of his 30th birthday, he’s giving baseball another chance.

“I’m here,” Appel said Monday in a Zoom call with reporters, “because I’m playing for the love of the game.”

Appel rediscovered that love in the strangest of places: a baseball game in Houston.

If he’s being honest, Appel wasn’t sure how he would feel about going to Minute Maid Park in 2018 to watch Stephen Piscotty, his college roommate from Stanford, play for the Oakland Athletics. But he realized he missed the game.

A few months later, Appel had surgery to fix labrum and rotator-cuff tears in his right shoulder. He quietly resumed throwing a few months after that. He went to Seattle in 2019 to train at Driveline Baseball and worked with Bill Hezel, a Phillies pitching consultant.

Then, last fall, Appel called Phillies interim general manager Ned Rice. He wanted to play again, and the Phillies retained his rights. In January, they invited him to minor-league camp, which opens this week. Appel has arrived with modest goals.

“I see the 2021 season as a win for me if I’m able to play, if I’m able to focus,” Appel said. “Once you’re back in the system, anything can happen. But I’m not thinking of success as if I’m in triple A or I’m in the big leagues. I want to feel like I’m getting better again. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt that.”

Not counting active minor leaguers, the only No. 1 overall picks who never reached the majors are Brien Taylor (1991) and Steven Chilcott (1966). Appel said he’s no longer bothered by being mentioned as a future member of that club.

“I would say that ate at me while I was playing much more than it’s ever eaten at me since then,” he said. “I’ve made peace with who I am, what’s happened in my life, what’s happened in my career. I still have a lot of joy about where I’m going and what I’m doing.”

In case you hadn’t heard, the Phillies’ final opening-day roster spot went to Adam Haseley, not Odúbel Herrera. And as Dave Dombrowski explained, it was about ABs, not PR.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I wrote about Spencer Howard, rotation depth, and the organizational shortcoming that could derail the Phillies.

Zach Eflin is ready after a minor back issue, and the Phillies’ rotation is set.

The Inquirer’s annual baseball preview section hits newsstands Thursday. Here’s a sneak peek at Bob Brookover’s cover story on all the twists and turns of the Phillies’ nine-year postseason drought.

Also from the preview section: Bryce Harper has had a big impact on baseball over the last 10 years, but there’s something neither he nor Mike Trout has done yet: win a playoff series.

Ten days before his demotion, Scott Kingery candidly admitted his swing is a mess. But he doesn’t blame it on his work with a St. Louis-based independent swing coach in the 2016-17 offseason. Marcus Hayes doles out blame in this column.

Tomorrow: Nola vs. Braves ace Max Fried on opening day, 3:05 p.m.

Friday: Phillies are off.

Saturday: Zack Wheeler vs. Atlanta’s Charlie Morton, 4:05 p.m.

Sunday: Eflin makes Easter start vs. Braves’ Ian Anderson, 1:05 p.m.

Monday: Meet the Mets ... at Citizens Bank Park, 7:05 p.m.

Jean Segura is expected to be in the Phillies’ opening-day lineup for a third consecutive year. In 2019, he was the shortstop. Last year, he moved to third base. This season, he will be at second.

Segura’s versatility will put him in select company. Five former Phillies players started three openers in a row at three positions. Here’s the list:

It’s worth noting that Hayes and Taylor made opening-day starts at four positions, though not in consecutive years. Granny Hamner, Johnny Wyrostek, and Sherry Magee each started at three positions in five-, nine-, and four-year periods, respectively.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @ScottLauber.

Answer: Hey, Jayson. Thanks for the question. It’s an excellent one because manager Joe Girardi hasn’t named a closer yet. I don’t have a “preferred option,” but if you’re asking me to make an educated guess about who will get the first chance to close, I’ll go with Héctor Neris. He’s the incumbent (sort of). Archie Bradley and lefty José Alvarado are possibilities, but I think they could have roles elsewhere in the late innings. I broke down the closer options in a recent story.

Answer: Hi, Gary. Happy to have you here at Extra Innings. So, I’ve got a few numbers for you: Since 2018, 359 players have gotten at least 500 plate appearances in the majors. Hoskins is tied for 40th in on-base percentage (.362), 78th in slugging (.478), and 54th in OPS (.840). That’s pretty darned good. Is he prone to extreme streaks? Yes. Would you like to see more consistency? Sure. But I’ll take that combination of on-base and power any day. Based on his track record, it’s not unrealistic to think he can’t keep up that level of production.