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MARKEL BECOMES SECOND PLAYER TO HAVE CONTRACT PURCHASED BY MLB TEAM IN 2018

SIOUX CITY, IA – The Sioux City Explorers announced today that the Seattle Mariners have purchased the contract of Explorers RHP Parker Markel.

Markel was a consistent part of an excellent Explorers bullpen which put together an ERA of 2.97 and helped lead the team to a league best 71-29 record during the 2018 regular season. Markel made 37 appearances out of the bullpen and put together a 1-1 record with five saves and an ERA of 4.14. He also recorded 62 strike outs in 41.1 innings putting together a dominant K/9 of 13.5, while holding opponents to a batting average of just .244.

Markel was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 32^nd round of the 2009 MLB Draft from Mountain Ridge HS (Glendale, AZ) but did not sign. Markel was once again drafted the following year after one season at Yavapai College (Prescott, AZ) by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 39^th round. Markel would spend 7 years in the Rays system, pitching mostly as a reliever, owning a 34-26 record with a 3.99 ERA in 197 appearances.

Markel made his professional debut in 2010 at the age of 19 and just a year later was named a 2011 New York-Pennsylvania League Mid-Season All-Star pitching for the Hudson Valley Renegades. The Surprise, AZ native continued to impress in 2012 where he earned 11 wins which was tied for the 4^th most in the entire Midwest League. Markel split the 2015 and 2016 seasons between the Rays Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, including finishing the 2016 season with the Triple-A Durham Bulls where the righty went 5-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 34 games for the Bulls. 

Markel’s 2018 Explorers season began on a frightening note as during spring training he was struck in the head with a line drive. Though he was able to fight back from the injury to put together a good season. His 2018 season had many highlights including pitching two scoreless frames in extra innings against the Kansas City T-Bones on August 10^th, picking up his lone win of the season as the Explorers would win in walk off fashion. He also put together a rare seven-out save in Winnipeg on August 17^th. He would retire the final seven batters of the game with five of the outs being punch outs. Markel finished the 2018 regular season with 10.1 scoreless innings over his last eight appearances. In that time he allowed just four hits and four walks while fanning an incredible 18.

With Markel’s signing with the Mariners organization, the Sioux City Explorers have now had 16 player’s contracts purchased by an affiliated organization since the completion of the 2015 season. Ryan Kalish – Chicago Cubs, Rob Wort – Boston Red Sox, Patrick Johnson – Pittsburgh Pirates, Ryan Court – Boston Red Sox, Noah Perio – Los Angeles Dodgers, Tayler Scott – Milwaukee Brewers, Connor Overton – San Francisco Giants, Lindsey Caughel – Seattle Mariners, Reinier Roibal – Los Angeles Dodgers, Nelson Ward – Seattle Mariners, Kurt Heyer – Miami Marlins, James Needy – Miami Marlins, John Nogowski – St. Louis Cardinals, Kevin McCanna – Arizona Diamondbacks, Tyler Fallwell – Philadelphia Phillies, Parker Markel – Seattle Mariners.