Mark Appel is a prime example of why the No. 1 overall pick in the draft is never a sure thing. The right-handed wonder has all of the stuff to be a big leaguer, but has recently shown that he is still a work in progress.

It's almost guaranteed that the wheels will come off in one inning during the course of an Appel start, even if the ugly frame is surrounded by solid shutout innings. It all centers around one thing: The Stretch. The young prospect is losing command of the baseball when men get on base.Appel retired eight straight batters in his last home start. He flashed his "ace" potential when Debinson Robero whiffed on Appel's fourth strikeout of the game. However, Major League veteran Peter Kozma next jumped on a 2-2 pitch and singled. That signaled the start of trouble for the young pitcher."He was on fire going out of the wind up, and then everything changed," manager Dave Brundage said. "His mound presence changed and so did his command of the baseball."Appel lost his control in walking Donovan Solano. A wild pitch to slugger Aaron Judge allowed the runners to advance, but that ultimately did not matter. Judge slammed a three-run homer two pitches later. The third out proved to be more elusive, as he gave up three more hits, two wild pitches, and a walk to cap off a five-run inning."Things got downhill when he got into the stretch. He didn't look as sharp and a little unsure of himself when [with men on base]." Brundage said after the game. "He got soft and timid and pitches got up in the zone. He went to his off-speed stuff and got beat on the change up."Appel finished his five-inning start with some goose eggs on the scoreboard, but walked four batters for the second start in a row."I didn't feel that good out of the stretch," Appel said after the start. "You can tell when the command starts to get shaky like it was. I started to get behind hitters and in hitters count."Appel alluded to his start in Pawtucket when he first started to sense the issue."I walked four guys today, I walked four guys [in Pawtucket]. I can't remember when I walked four guys in back-to-back games."Wednesday night in Columbus was no different. The second inning of a 10-2 drubbing, Appel gave up six runs in the second inning where a hit-by-pitch and two wild-pitches combined with a three-run homer and a two-run double doomed the start. He finished his five-inning start with three shutout innings where he only allowed one base runner."Sometimes it happens with younger guys," Brundage said. "They get a nice rhythm and then a guy gets on base and you have different thoughts get in your head. Then you start over analyzing. There's a reason why he is in Triple-A."Appel's next start is on Monday against Syracuse at Coca-Cola Park."It is something we are going to take a good look at figuring out what's going on," Appel said. "We'll look at film and find things I can work on to make my next start."TOMMY GUNS ... How good of a start did Tommy Joseph have this season? The first baseman, who was called up to the Phiilies on Friday, entered the recent four-game series with the Columbus Clippers as the league-leader in batting average at .392. After going 2-for-16 (.125), his average dropped to .347. Yet, he still leads the league in batting average and has launched six homers, driven in 17 runs, and is sporting a .370 on-base percentage.WONDER WILLIAMS ... Nick Williams, a highly touted outfield prospect, has started to heat up. With his two-run home run Thursday night, he has now hit in 14 of his last 17 games and is hitting .333 (23-for 69) during that span. The No. 2 ranked Phillies prospect (No. 27 overall by Baseball America) also has eight multi-hit efforts across his previous 19 games.Williams is turning into a clutch hitter. His home run last night provided the winning runs. During the last home stand, he provided the drama with a walk off two-run homer in the 10th inning against Pawtucket.ASTOUNDING ASHER ... After his trade from the Astros last season, the lefty has both had a successful stint with the IronPigs and a quick cup of tea with the Phillies. This season left him starting in Double-A Reading, where he was 1-2, with a 3.20 ERA in four starts. Asher has been astounding across three starts since being promoted to the IronPigs. His win on Thursday night raised his record to 3-0, while he now owns an ERA of 0.40 with a 15/3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.