MIAMI -- Mick Abel had a stellar bounce-back outing against the Marlins on Monday night at loanDepot park, rebounding after the 23-year-old struggled in his prior start vs. Chicago.
Making his fourth start of the year, Abel -- Philly's No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- allowed one run on three hits and one walk while recording three strikeouts over five innings to help the Phillies to a 5-2 series-opening win, their fifth straight victory.
It’s a positive happenstance not only for Abel -- who is eager to make a quality impression in his rookie year -- but for Philly, too, which is in need of quality starting pitching with Aaron Nola sidelined.
Nola is on the injured list for the first time in eight years. He was originally out for a right ankle sprain, but after feeling stiffness in his side during rehab he underwent an MRI scan, which revealed a stress fracture in one of his right ribs.
Enter: Abel.
The young righty debuted on May 18 after being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh. He was optioned back to Lehigh the next day after earning his first win with six scoreless innings, and joined Philadelphia’s regular rotation on June 4.
He opened the affair Monday with authority, collecting a 1-2-3 inning to keep Miami off the board after Philly took a 1-0 lead via a Trea Turner homer.
Abel ran into trouble in the second after Kyle Stowers hit a one-out triple. Connor Norby plated his teammate with a single to center, and after a hit-by-pitch, Miami had the bases loaded with two outs.
Xavier Edwards ripped a 96.5 mph rope to second on Abel’s third pitch of the ensuing at-bat, but Bryson Stott laid out to make a deft diving grab, ending the inning.
Abel was clean in the third and fourth innings, and gave up a lone baserunner in the fifth, but managed to escape the inning on 13 pitches (throwing 10 for strikes). Control was his forte Monday night, as 65 percent of his pitches went for strikes.
Max Kepler drove in Philly’s second run with a solo homer in the fourth, and Turner -- who went 3-for-5 on the day -- smacked an RBI single in seventh. Philly drove in a pair of insurance runs in the ninth thanks to a bases-loaded single from Alec Bohm.
“The second inning, [Abel] got in some trouble, and worked out of it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “And then went right back out in the third -- and third, fourth and fifth [innings] he gave us three good innings.”
“It was just realizing you’re here to execute,” Abel said on his composure during the second-inning jam. “Just breathe through the moment a little bit more, and don’t speed up and try to do too much. … Just refocus.”
Abel was Philadelphia’s first-round selection (15th overall) in 2020 out of high school, signing for a $4.075 million bonus. He began his career with the Single-A Clearwater Threshers in 2021, and by 2022 was a member of the Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A).
He struggled with Triple-A Lehigh in 2024 (pitching to a 3-12 record with a 6.46 ERA), but began 2025 on an entirely different trajectory.
Philadelphia’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month in April, Abel is 6-2 with a 2.21 ERA for Lehigh this season. He’s notched 67 strikeouts to complement a 2.58 K/BB ratio, and upon his latest callup (June 4), Abel was tied for first in wins while ranking third in ERA among International League pitchers.
Abel continued to pitch with confidence at the big league level, striking out nine batters in his debut to tie Curt Simmons (1947) for the most strikeouts in a Major League debut in Phillies history. Abel didn’t stop there, stringing together 11 consecutive scoreless innings to begin his career (most for a Phillie since Cole Hamels in 2006). Furthermore, he didn’t give up a base on balls in his first two starts, becoming just the third to do so in team history.
Abel has thrown at least five innings while allowing no more than one run in three of his first four big league starts.
“His first two [starts] were excellent,” Thomson said. “The third one, he had some long innings, but still kept his composure. … and then tonight, again he has a second inning where he’s got traffic, he gets out of it, and then he settles right back in.
“I’m really pleased, I’m really am. He’s growing.”