Likening Mick Abel’s professional baseball career to a roller coaster ride would be kind of unfair to roller coasters.
Perhaps a skydive would be more appropriate. Fortunately, Abel’s parachute may have opened just in time.
Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Abel began the slow climb of a top prospect that summer at Single-A Clearwater as the No. 2 rated player in the Phillies system, posting a 4.43 ERA in 44.2 innings across 14 starts.
In 2022, the 6-foot-5 right-hander made 18 starts at High-A Jersey Shore, then five more at Double-A Reading, combining for a 3.90 ERA. The next season saw Abel, still the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect, start another 22 games for Reading, earning a late-season promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he pitched one game and got acclimated to the level of competition that he would be facing in 2024.
And that’s when the freefall began.
Mick Abel Rises Through Phillies System Until Hitting Rough Stretch in 2024
Abel started 24 games last season for the IronPigs, and in only two of those starts did he now allow any unearned runs. Over 108.2 innings, he gave up 119 hits and 78 walks for a strikingly high WHIP of 1.81. He finished the season 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA.
“He walked 15% of batters and the strikeout rate plummeted, the velocity plummeted,” said Chris Clegg of the “Dynasty Dugout” podcast. “It was everything you did not want to see from Mick Abel.”
Perhaps the worst part of all, Abel said, is that he never mentally gave himself a break away from the field.
“I was never happy. I was never satisfied in this game,” he said.
“I think I did a terrible job, you know? I’d go home. I’d wallow. I’d look at all of my pitches every hour of every day. It was all I was thinking about. And it’s not a healthy atmosphere.”
So Abel said he decided to change his atmosphere, and it began with a change in attitude.
“You should never be satisfied, but there’s a point to where you got to understand what makes you happy,” he said. “You got to understand that you’re always going to be happy [playing baseball] and that you have to move on from an outing. That’s what I call one of those little wins along the way.”
‘Those Little Wins’ Off the Field Help Mick Abel Find Success Again On the Field
Buoyed by “those little wins” off the field, Abel came into the 2025 season ready to experience wins on the field again. He was tested right from the start, and Abel gave up four earned runs on nine hits in five innings during his season opener on March 30. But Abel turned things around immediately, throwing six scoreless innings on April 5 on four hits and no walks while striking out seven.
“Mick’s gone through a lot with the ups and downs of last year, maturing, and figuring out what works and what doesn’t,” said Lehigh Valley manager Anthony Contreras. “I see a different presence on the mound. I see the little boy in him kind of leaving. I see him turning into the man that he’s naturally going to turn into. You can just hear it in his voice when you have conversations with him – and that’s what’s exciting.”
For the season, Abel is 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA. Walks are still a concern, as he has given up 19 in 46.1 innings. But with an increase in velocity, Abel has 51 strikeouts, and he’s putting himself back in the conversation about the Phillies’ top prospects, where he is now ranked No. 8.
“He’s starting to get deep into ballgames, hold his velocity and throw his breaking balls for strikes,” Contreras said. “There are so many positives to what his season looks like so far, now it’s all about staying healthy, staying on track and continue to doing what (he’s) been doing.”
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