Phils send Abel to Triple-A for reset; Walker rejoins rotation

PHILADELPHIA -- Mick Abel will head to Triple-A Lehigh Valley this week as the Phillies hope to get their No. 5 prospect back on track.

Abel, who lasted just 1 2/3 innings in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader, was optioned to Lehigh Valley prior to Friday's series opener vs. the Reds at Citizens Bank Park.

"I thought Mick just needed to go down and breathe a little bit," manager Rob Thomson said. "Just get a little reset. It's not uncommon."

Taijuan Walker will rejoin the rotation to start Tuesday's game in San Francisco, where Thomson hopes to get approximately four innings out of him. Following Tuesday, the Phillies won't need a fifth starter again until July 22 against the Red Sox.

The Phillies will use that time to reassess that rotation spot moving forward. Aaron Nola is making progress, but he won't even begin a Minor League rehab assignment until after the All-Star break.

That means the Phils will still need someone to fill that void coming out of the break, whether that's Walker getting another start, Abel coming back up -- or top prospect Andrew Painter making his highly anticipated debut.

The Phillies have said "July-ish" all along for Painter. More recently, they've specified that the 22-year-old right-hander won't be called up before the All-Star break.

Painter made his most recent start for Lehigh Valley on Thursday, allowing four runs off seven hits over five innings while striking out seven and walking one. All four runs came in the fourth inning.

"Four really good innings," said Thomson, who watched Painter's start on TV. "In that fourth inning, he gave up four runs, gave up some hits, left the ball in the middle of the plate.

"But he got a lot of swing-and-miss in the other four innings. Threw strikes, spun it really well, pitched up in the zone really well. I thought he was good."

Painter is expected to start on Tuesday and again the following Sunday for Lehigh Valley before resting over the All-Star break. That would give him eight days off before that July 22 date when the Phillies would next need a fifth starter, though the club has not committed to anything at this point.

In the meantime, Walker will make his ninth start of the season on Tuesday. He began the year in the rotation before shifting to the bullpen once Ranger Suárez came off the IL in early May. Walker moved back to the rotation for two starts after Nola went on the IL, but the Phils moved him back to the ‘pen at the start of June.

Thomson said at that time that he wanted to get a look at Walker in a traditional relief role, and he wanted to stop shuttling him back and forth from the rotation to the 'pen.

So, what changed?

"Just need, really," Thomson said. "He always considers himself a starter and ultimately wants to start. He'll do anything for the ballclub, because he's that type of guy, but I think he's generally happy he's going to go back into a normal routine -- normal for him, anyway."

As for Abel, he's struggled to replicate the success he had in his first big league start. He struck out nine and walked zero over six scoreless innings in his MLB debut on May 18, but he has a 6.63 ERA in five starts since. He has just 12 strikeouts over 19 innings while walking nine and allowing seven home runs in those five outings.

Abel will now look to figure things out at Lehigh Valley, where he went 6-2 with a 2.21 ERA over 10 starts earlier this season.

"Just get his confidence back and be able to get through tough situations," Thomson said. "He's done it before. I mean, this guy has had a really good year this year. His poise, his composure has been outstanding. He's really grown. We just need to get back to that guy."

Doing so would not only potentially help the Phillies' rotation in the short term, but it could help their overall roster in the long term. With the way Abel started the season at Triple-A and burst onto the scene in his debut, he was considered one of the club's top trade chips over the past couple months.

For now, the Phils just want him to focus on rediscovering his early-season form.

"I think he's going to go down there and get back what he had," Thomson said. "And he's going to be a better pitcher for it."