Congrats to Mark Appel for finally making an appearance in the big leagues. Only took 9 years. 1 innings, 1 hit, 1 k
Appel hitting 97 with sink. Certainly has a shot to stick as a reliever… not sure what his other pitches are looking like, and whether or not he has the stuff/stamina to consider starting again, but there’s still not a lot of miles on that arm and he’s only 30.
I wish Appel nothing but the best, no hard feelings whatsoever. Having said that, being brutally honest he just doesn't seem like a mentally strong person. Maybe the time away has given him perspective and he will be able to roll with struggles, but unless he's a mop up guy you are inevitably gonna have some "wanna crawl in a hole" f**k ups as a reliever, and you have to shake them off.
Horrible take, I’m sure many big leaguers have had mental health issues not as heavily publicized. One being hall of famer, Zach Greinke.
Saying that someone going through mental issues may not be a mentally strong person is no different than saying a skinny basketball player may not be strong enough to hold his ground. You have it or you don't and if your mind keeps you from being better than you may not have it. Simple as that.
Brooks Raley is on the injured list now, but the dude has pitched in 24+ innings with a 2.22 ERA this year for the Rays.
Which is ironic because he was "mentally strong" enough to refuse first round money, bet on himself to excel another year at Stanford (and not get injured), and still ended up being the #1 overall pick. I'd also say its highly likely that individuals mature from a mental standpoint between ages 21-23... and age 30. And hell, people continue to mature mentally well beyond that. The accounts of Appel's rude awakening to the minors is well documented. Lost all confidence, got hurt, never got it back. His stuff/arm seem sound and if he's retiring major leaguers with regularity, won't take long to re-gain confidence. Ultimately he'll be as good (or not as good) as his secondary stuff and his health allows him to.
No...he is on the "I'm not vaccinated so I can't play in Toronto" list Also, he was on the "I'm not wearing the gay pride logo on my hat or uniform because I'm a douche" list.
The guys that decided not to wear the hats issued a statement that was not well received about their reasoning why. I'll be happy to discuss this further in the D&D section.
I would argue that it's those that refuse to wear the hats, and those that support their reasoning and ideals that are the bigots. But I too have no reason to discuss it further.
D, D&D material. Dumb, Dumber and Douchbags. It doesn't belong in a BASEBALL thread. Even though MLB itself belongs in the D,D & D Thread.
