James Appel  
Starting Pitcher | Sask Yellow Jackets

Pitching
He can get groundballs when he needs them in a jam. Appel can get into trouble with walks, and there's concern about him being able to maintain his stuff over the whole season. His fastball gets into the high 80s, but it's the sink that makes the pitch effective. The running movement on his pitches makes life tougher on lefties than righties.

Defense & Hitting
He's reasonably quick to the plate but needs to vary his pickoff moves. Good baserunners appeared to time him last year. A shaky fielder, he's slow to react to grounders and often looks unsure on his throws to the bases. Appel is a surpisingly good hitting pitcher. And I'm not sure you can say this about a pitcher, but Appel has some pop in his swing. Interesting sidenote, The Sask Yellow Jackets have been known to use Appel as a pinch-runner on occasion.

2025 Outlook
The Sask Yellow Jackets signed him to a long-term contract, but don't think they won't drop Appel like a hot potato if something better comes along.

          -- Ska Nyman, A-Ball Scout

 

Player Skills Yearly Scouting Report Cards
Year Team AS EN CO HR GF vL Hm Sc CL FB CU SI SL CB SC KN Age Exp Delivery Slot CH PH SP FA Nyman Rating
2023 UWW 60 62 29 26 47 59 46 55 52 48 0 0 39 57 0 0 19 0 Overhand College 0 0 3 24 157
2024 UWW 64 66 36 28 47 59 46 55 52 58 0 0 39 68 0 0 20 1 Overhand College 0 0 0 26 202
2025 SAS 66 76 42 31 47 59 46 55 52 63 0 0 39 68 0 0 21 0 Overhand Low Minors 0 0 0 26 230
Ratings Delta +2 +10 +6 +3           +5             +1 -1             +28

CBL Collegiate League Yearly Statistical Records
Year Age Team W L Sv Hld G GS QS CG IP AIP H HR BB SO IR IRS K/9 K/BB Whip Avg Slg LHB RHB ERA
2023 19 UWW 12 11 0 0 35 35 10 5 191 5.1 195 27 197 122 0 0 5.75 0.62 2.05 .261 .428 .238 .266 6.97
2024 20 UWW 17 6 0 0 35 35 13 2 208.1 6.0 180 18 180 174 0 0 7.53 0.97 1.73 .231 .359 .259 .224 5.40
2025 21 UWW 10 14 0 0 35 35 17 2 230.1 6.2 181 24 162 229 0 0 8.96 1.41 1.49 .211 .334 .207 .213 4.22
Totals     39 31 0 0 105 105 40 9 629.2 6.0 556 69 539 525 0 0 7.51 0.97 1.74 .233 .372 .229 .234 5.45

CBL Pioneer League Yearly Statistical Records
Year Age Team W L Sv Hld G GS QS CG IP AIP H HR BB SO IR IRS K/9 K/BB Whip Avg Slg LHB RHB ERA
Totals     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

CBL Major League Yearly Statistical Records
Year Age Team W L Sv Hld G GS QS CG IP AIP H HR BB SO IR IRS K/9 K/BB Whip Avg Slg LHB RHB ERA
Totals     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

James Appel's Career Highlights
Year Details
2025 2nd round - 31st overall selection by Sask Yellow Jackets in the 2025 Amateur Draft

James Appel's Comparable Players
Player Names
Dmarco Walker 90.4% Antwuin Dziedzic 89.9%      

Tip - Click on the club abbreviation to get further details and history.
Transfer history draft picks in brackets indicate the actual pick number in the draft wasn't determined at the time of the deal being made.
Report Cards generated by Biorhythm v2.7.82 on Fri Aug 12 01:15:47 CEST 2011
Report card data printed in red denotes that player was in the top two percent for that category and year. Blue data denotes membership to the bottom two percent.