Inside The Twins

Twins prospects: Mick Abel's strong debut, Marek Houston flashes leather

Abel threw five scoreless innings in his St. Paul Saints debut on Sunday.
Will Ragatz|
Jul 2, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mick Abel (40) catches a ball before throwing a pitch during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park.
Jul 2, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mick Abel (40) catches a ball before throwing a pitch during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Twins

Mick Abel, one of the two top-100 prospects the Twins got back from the Phillies for closer Jhoan Duran, made a strong first impression in his St. Paul Saints debut on Sunday.

Abel threw five scoreless innings against the Toledo Mud Hens, Detroit's Triple-A affiliate, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out seven. Of his 66 pitches, 43 were strikes, including nine swings and misses. Abel's fastball averaged 95.3 MPH and touched 97, and he complemented it with effective curveballs, sliders, and changeups.

Abel, who turns 24 in a couple weeks, lowered his Triple-A ERA this season to 2.16. He already reached the big leagues earlier this year, making six starts for Philadelphia, so it likely won't be too long before he's called up to join the Twins' rotation.

The Twins say that sending new acquisitions Abel, Taj Bradley, and James Outman to St. Paul was about not rushing them back to the big leagues. (With Outman specifically, there may be a service-time element that the team would never publicly acknowledge). So far, Alan Roden is the only player added in the Twins' trade deadline fire sale to debut for the team.

"The last thing you want to do is have guys come to the big leagues in a new environment, new staff, new everything, and oh, by the way, 'I’m working on something,'" Twins president Derek Falvey said, via the Minnesota Star Tribune. "If you can get some of that work done in AAA to invest in the long-term future for that guy’s career, it’s usually a little bit better. ... Sometimes you need to get your legs under you in a new organization before you take that next step."

Bradley will likely make his Saints debut at CHS Field on Tuesday. He threw seven no-hit innings in his last Triple-A outing with the Rays' organization.

Outman has gone 0 for 8 with five strikeouts in his first two games with St. Paul.

Houston flashes the leather

Marek Houston, the Twins' recent first-round pick out of Wake Forest (No. 16 overall), made his professional debut with Low-A Fort Myers on Friday. In just his first few games in the Twins' system, he's already showed off one of his greatest strengths: his high-level shortstop defense.

In his pro debut, he made this slick play on a ball up the middle:

Then, one night later, he made an even more impressive play on a ball even further to his left:

Houston, 21, also went 4 for 13 with four singles and a stolen base in his first Low-A series. He could follow the path of 2024 first-round pick Kaelen Culpepper and earn a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids pretty quickly, which would give him a chance to make his way to Double-A Wichita next year.

Other Twins minor league notes

  • Catcher Eduardo Tait, the top prospect the Twins got back in the Duran deal, hit his first double for Cedar Rapids on Sunday. He turns 19 years old this month.
  • After a rough month of July, Aaron Sabato hit a pair of homers for the Saints on Saturday. The Twins' 2020 first-rounder, who has had a breakout season, has an .803 OPS for St. Paul.
  • 19-year-old lefty Dasan Hill, the Twins' No. 8 prospect, had another strong outing for Fort Myers on Saturday.
  • Gabriel Gonzalez and Kyler Fedko are now in Triple-A after raking for Wichita this season. Both earned well-deserved promotions. Gonzalez, the Twins' No. 9 prospect, is just 21 years old.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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