The Philadelphia Phillies made a roster move on July 4th that sent starting pitcher Mick Abel to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to help him reset after a rough stretch.
Philadelphia is preparing to finalize its roster for the second half of the season and a potential postseason run, and there is a chance the young pitcher may not be included on the playoff roster.
While Abel still has a long Phillies career ahead of him, it might not happen again until 2026, and Edward Eng from Fansided thinks Abel could be left off the roster after the trade deadline.
“Finally, we have rookie pitcher Mick Abel. Going from almost a forgotten young piece in the Phillies organization last season due to his immense struggles with his command to suddenly a major league starter in 2025, Abel has managed to put himself back on the map to some extent in the process. Getting the call while veteran Aaron Nola had been out, the 23-year-old prospect compiled a 2-2 record with a 5.04 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, with 21 strikeouts and nine walks in 25 innings,” Eng wrote. “No one will forget Abel’s sensational MLB debut, in which he shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates for six innings with nine strikeouts for his first win. However, some struggles in each of his last two outings, one against the New York Mets and one against the San Diego Padres, showed that despite his glimpses of dominance and potential, there was still some work left to be done to make him a polished MLB starter. Nevertheless, Abel has shown enough intrigue in his abilities that it has caught the eye of many. Despite his recent demotion to Triple-A, with Andrew Painter untouchable, Abel becomes the top pitching prospect available for the Phillies to deal with at the trade deadline that prospective teams could end up targeting.”
According to MLB.com, Abel is the team’s No. 5 prospect, so he still has a lot of time to learn what it takes to play at the highest level.
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