Phillies' Talented Starting Pitching Prospect Could Debut in 2024
Starting pitching depth could be an issue for the Philadelphia Phillies even with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez.
Taijuan Walker was inconsistent during the regular season and basically invisible in the playoffs.
Promising prospect Andrew Painter is likely to be sidelined for the entire 2024 season.
At some point, another arm will be needed.
It could be the perfect situation for Mick Abel.
The 22-year-old was selected by the Phillies in the first round of the 2020 draft and was recently ranked No. 49 on MLB.com's Top 100 prospects list.
During the recently held Winter Meetings, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski spoke highly of Abel.
“I've been with young guys who are very talented and you never can tell when they all of a sudden – boom – find it. He does have that type of talent. But I don't want to put that on him since we're set with our rotation, too. But sure, I hope that we're in that spot where we see him at some time during the year because he's pitched well enough to do so."
Abel pitched at Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley last season and had a good bit of success. But he also struggled with his command, especially on his breaking pitches.
There were four solid starts in August and September when Abel posted a 1.17 ERA.
It would make sense for Philadelphia to keep Abel throwing every five days in either Reading or Lehigh Valley to start the 2024 campaign. Let him continue to work on his command and build confidence.
The Phillies drafted Abel and had high expectations.
They still do.
This will be a determining year for the talented pitcher to evaluate if he can eventually make the jump like some of Philadelphia's other prospects like Orion Kerkering and Johan Rojas did last season.
Keep an eye on Abel's progress and don’t be surprised to see him pitching in Citizens Bank Park at some point this year.
