One of the Phillies top prospects went under the knife and is out for the season
Phillies fourth ranked prospect Mark Appel will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur from his pitching elbow.
Philly.com beat writer Matt Gelb says Appel is expected to be ready for Spring Training in March of 2017.
Appel was already on the disabled list nursing a shoulder injury when he underwent the elbow procedure on Wendesday.
Mark Appel had surgery today to remove a bone spur from his right elbow. His season is over. Expected to be ready for spring training.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) June 29, 2016
Appel was acquired in the Ken Giles trade over the offseason, and was the first overall pick of the Houston Astros in the 2013 MLB Draft. In his eight starts in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the 24-year-old was 3-3 with a 4.46 ERA prior to going on the disabled list with the shoulder injury. He had struck out 34 batters, and walked 20 in his 38.1 innings of work in Lehigh Valley.
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When the Phillies acquired Appel, he was expected to compete for a job in the starting rotation out of spring training or be called up during the season. After a strong start in Lehigh Valley, the injuries plagued Appel and forced him to watch from the sidelines since May.
With so many pitchers in the Phillies system, it might be hard to envision Appel being in Philadelphia in the near future. With Vinent Velasquez, Aaron Nola, Jake Thompson, and Jared Eickhof expected to be building blocks of the future, space could become limited.
You also can not discredit the talents of Zack Eflin, Ben Lively, and Franklyn Kilome, all among the top pitchers in the Phillies organization thanks to their rebuilding efforts.