Former Philadelphia Phillies first-round pick Mick Abel took the mound at Allentown’s Coca-Cola Park on Friday night, making his first Triple-A start in what would be Lehigh Valley’s final game of the season.
The 22-year-old right-hander, recently promoted from Double-A Reading, was solid in his IronPigs debut. He tossed 4 2/3 innings of two-run baseball while striking out six, but took the loss as Lehigh Valley fell to Worcester, 3-2.
With Saturday and Sunday’s games between the two clubs getting rained out without being made up, Friday served as the season finale. Lehigh Valley went 80-66 on the season, 44-29 in the second half as the team finished three games behind Durham for an International League playoff spot.
Abel, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft, scattered five hits on Friday, walked three batters and hit three with pitches. The control issues have popped up at different points this year for him, but he was able to limit the damage on Friday.
In his third season of professional baseball, Abel posted a 4.13 ERA in 23 starts while setting a new career high in innings at 113 1/3. He struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings while walking 5.2 batters per nine. It wasn’t a dominant or breakout season for Abel, but it was a positive one for the pitcher ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the most recent Phillies Nation countdown of the organization’s top young players.
Having now reached Triple-A, Abel is likely to start the 2024 season with the IronPigs and spend most of the year at that level. If he continues to develop and build up his innings, a trip to Philadelphia may not be that far off. Abel will likely be a depth option as early as next year, a candidate for spot starts if the big-league club needs rotation help during the season with a chance to possibly pitch his way into the regular plans for 2025.
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