The Phillies are selecting the contract of right-handed pitcher Mark Appel, interim manager Rob Thomson told reporters in San Diego on Friday. In a corresponding move, Connor Brogdon is going on the COVID-19 injured list.
Appel, 30, has a 1.61 ERA in 28 innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2022. He returned to the Phillies organization prior to the 2021 season. Injuries and personal struggles took its toll and Appel stepped away from professional baseball for three full seasons in 2017.
“…Probably by the end of the 2018 season – it’s weird because I wasn’t playing so it didn’t feel like a season – I was starting to kind of question what would it take for me to play again,” Appel said in March 2021.