After pitching a scoreless inning in his major league debut against the Braves in a 4-1 loss, Appel said, “Having perspective and remembering even just two, three years ago. It’s never been a straight line for me, even if I was only trying to go back. I felt bewildered during the entire procedure, even. There were times when I thought my dream would never come true and I felt completely helpless. Therefore, I was fighting back tears.” At 30 years, 349 days old, Appel is the oldest first-round choice in baseball ever to make his Major League debut. He was chosen by the Astros as the first overall choice in the 2013 MLB Draft. Along the way, he struggled with trade-offs, surgeries, and ailments, and he even gave up in 2018. But he came back in 2021 and, a year later, made his big-league debut.
in MLB Player
The MLB Debut of Mark Appel
