Mark Appel Pitches, Tweets, Adds Blogger to Résumé

Mark Appel is a smart man with many talents. He graduated from Stanford with a degree in Management Science and Engineering, he’s a top-rated pitcher, he’s an excellent social media user, and he’s now a blogger.

We all know about Appel’s pitching talents: his 93 – 97 mph fastball with 82 mph change up and “devastating” slider. What you may not know is that is he excels on Twitter.

When you think of athletes and social media, you may groan, “Oh boy, what is this guy going to get himself into?” Not to worry about Mark Appel. He seems like a down-to-earth, all-around nice guy (unlike a former Astros pitcher with a surly reputation – think fish). Appel gives away autographed gear, he celebrates Texas Independence Day, and sometimes he quotes Bible passages. If that’s not your thing, Appel is also funny on Twitter.

Back in December, the top-rated prospect visited a zoo in Colorado and took lots of selfies with giraffes and other animals, which were featured on MLB.com.

On the drive to Spring Training back in February, Appel and Brady Rodgers live-tweeted their trip and even took a Q & A session with fans.

He takes selfies with the technologically-challenged members of the staff.

And sometimes he spotlights his fashionably-challenged teammates, like Josh Fields.

And if Mark Appel wasn’t busy enough with trying to earn a spot on the Major League roster and tweeting his exploits, the man announced over the weekend that he started writing a blog. From Appel’s first post:

"To be honest, I don’t really understand blogs. (Yes, I understand the irony). There are too many things about them that don’t make sense. I have so many questions. Who am I writing to? Why shouldn’t I just keep a journal? Are my stories or thoughts even worth sharing?"

He goes on to say that he knows most readers will be baseball fans. While he doesn’t know who will read his posts, he hopes they’ll have a positive impact on the reader. You can read more here.

This sounds pretty cool. He’s intelligent, has a good reputation, and he’s working his way up the ladder. If Appel is blogging while he is an active player, he should have plenty of material for his readers. And if it’s anything like his Twitter account, it could make an interesting read.

I’m going to bookmark it in my browser and you should, too. We may find out he has another hidden talent up his sleeve.

Next: Prospect Profile: Brian Holmes

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