Mark Sappington

[Tyler]

Off to a good start. Maybe one of the bright spots in the minor leagues. Love his size at 6'5, should be pretty durable. 22 years old and after three starts at A+:

 

2-0, 2.20 ERA, 16.1 IP, 11 H, 8 BB, 17 K's, 1.29 GO/AO, Opp avg. .183,

 

Obviously would like to see lower walk total, but in 1 of the 3 starts he had 4 BB's but in the same game only allowed 1 hit and 0 ER, so he was still very, very effective.

 

Someone to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

[Scott34]

He's good.  Really good.  Him and Wood and Jimenez are going to shooooot up the depth chart.

[Second Base]

Sapp's an interesting case.  A lot like Wood, he has the stuff to be a very good starter, but sometimes his control alludes him so many scouts project him into relief.  Mark's definitely an easy guy to root for and if he keeps the ball in the zone and develops his change up, he'll stick in the rotation and become a very bright spot in this organization. 

[Angel Oracle]

Are Wood's and Sappington's pitch repitoires extensive enough to be starters?   Or do they project as relievers long term? 

 

It is nice to finally be developing pitchers with great stuff, seeing how overly finesse oriented the MLB staff is currently, aside from Richards and 2 or 3 relievers.

[Second Base]

Wood has the arsenal for starting. His fastball doesn't move a ton, but he throws it hard and it really sets up his offspeed pitches well, which he offers a plus slider and above average change.  He's just really inconsistent.  

 

As far as Sapp goes, he has the fastball, movement and slider.  Both are plus pitches.  I haven't seen enough of his change to give you a definitive answer but from what I've been told by the organization, it shows enough promise that they aren't considering scrapping it at all.  So we'll see. 

[vladdy#27]

He pitched a gem tonight

 

IP 6.1 H 6 ER 0 R 1 K 6 BB 1

[Tyler]

Angels pitcher of the month for April

[rc4halos]

Well deserved. If he can keep putting up these solid numbers I suspect they'll move him up to AA by summer.

[Dave Saltzer]

I got another great interview with him yesterday and should be posting it in the next few days. The dude is a crackup.

[Mudville]

As for walk totals in the low minors, a grain of salt with those stats the umpires strike zones are never really trustworthy.

[AngelsWin.com]

Interview Conducted By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

The Angels selected Sappington in the 5th round of the 2012 amateur draft out of Rockhust, Mo., a Division II school where he went unnoticed after three years of competition. Sappington signed quickly and got to work immediately with the Orem Owlz.

The tall, physical frame allows Sappington to work in the 94-95 range with his fastball, reaching 97, with heavy sink due to a downhill angle which generates a good portion of groundball outs. Sappington also throws a good slider, though inconsistent at times, and a developing changeup which looks average right now. There's a lot of movement in Sappington's delivery which causes deception, but there's cause for concern that it could corrupt his mechanics and command.

Ric Wilson had this to say about Mark Sappington when I asked if he would stick in the rotation or be moved to his bullpen where his good fastball/slider would play out well. "I think at this point Chuck he will continue to start. He is working on some mechanical things and it takes a lot of reps to figure it out, but he has big stuff and his secondary pitches improved as the season progressed all the way through instructional league. He loves to learn and he is not afraid to take it to the mound as he learns it." 

Sappington has started his first full season in High-A with the Inland Empire 66ers with a 5-0 record, posting a minuscule 2.05 ERA while opposing hitters have hit just .204 against as a starting pitcher. Sappington has also fanned 49 batters in 52 2/3 innings. 

Click below to check out our recent interview with Mark Sappington, who's always a fun interview. (Check out last season's interview with him)

Mark Sappington 05-13-2013 from AngelsWin.com on Vimeo.

View the full article

[wopphil]

My guess is we see him in Anaheim at some point in the next three months.

[Mudville]

Lol, I don't think so although I'm sure he would love the pay grade. He is not on the 40 man roster and they are not starting his clock to see him get hit hard in the majors. I like the way he pitches, he doesn't nibble but still can work the edges of the zone. He will probably move up to AA soon enough if he continues pitching the way he has been. That is still a big jump to the majors.

[Chuck]

Right now Sappington is in my top 3 Angels prospects if the season ended today (and if he's healthy). 

[Dave Saltzer]

Sappington is one hell of a fun guy to interview, and I'm hoping that he makes it just to get his takes on life in the Majors. If you haven't watched the interview with him, you should! It was his interview, and well, he did something that might just land him on Tosh.0 someday, but hell, it's his interview . . . 

[Adam]

Wow, this kid looks like a legit bright spot for the organization. Cool stuff

[Scott34]

Sappington is one hell of a fun guy to interview, and I'm hoping that he makes it just to get his takes on life in the Majors. If you haven't watched the interview with him, you should! It was his interview, and well, he did something that might just land him on Tosh.0 someday, but hell, it's his interview . . . 

 

He's definitely hilarious.

 

"Getting in the Z" for getting in the zone. haha

[John Smith]

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130522&content_id=48161328&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

[Angel Oracle]

He struggled yesterday against San Jose at home.

Now that Cal League teams are facing him a second time, they are starting to make adjustments and thus how he makes adjustments to that will be huge in his future potential.  

 

It's not fair to say he could be in Anaheim by September.

Give the guy through all of 2014, and then re-assess if he's ready for Anaheim.