Phillies No. 2 prospect Mick Abel shines in Double-A Reading debut

Phillies 2020 first-round pick Mick Abel impressed in his Double-A debut.

Philadelphia Phillies right-handed starting pitching prospect Mick Abel received quite the 21st birthday gift from the organization last week when it was announced he would be promoted from the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws to Double-A Reading Fightin Phils.

The Portland, Oregon, native — who turned 21 last Thursday — had gone just 7-8 with a 4.01 ERA through 18 starts. However, Abel’s promotion was likely a direct result of his impressive strikeouts-to-walks ratio at High-A — punching out 103 of his 372 batters faced, while walking just 38 through 85 1/3 innings.

The right-hander did not disappoint and kept the strikeouts momentum going in his Double-A debut on Saturday, home against the Portland Sea Dogs. Abel earned the winning decision in the 4-3 victory, yielding just a pair of runs (both solo home runs) on four hits and a walk spanning six innings. He impressively struck out eight, or one-third, of his 24 batters faced.

As CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr notes, Abel reached as fast as 96 to 98 miles per hour on the radar gun.

Abel is ranked as the Phillies’ second-best prospect in the recently updated list of top-30 rising stars in the organization. He and the No. 1-ranked Andrew Painter — a fellow former first-round draft pick — were each named to Major League Baseball’s prestigious, midseason Top 100 Prospects list.

Painter, 19, will likewise make his Double-A Reading debut on Sunday. The Florida native shined through eight starts at Jersey Shore — going 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA, 0.873 WHIP, and 49-7 strikeouts-to-walks ratio through 36 2/3 innings. Earlier this year with the Clearwater Threshers, the right-hander posted a 1.40 ERA and 0.853 WHIP through nine starts, while striking out 69 of his 149 batters faced.