A former Philadelphia Phillies first-round draft pick is inching toward his major league debut, and no, it’s not Andrew Painter. After struggling throughout his first full season at Triple-A, Mick Abel has found success in 2025.
Abel, the 15th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, has been consistently a top-five prospect in the Phillies’ organization since being drafted, but his recent struggles dropped him to No. 8, per MLB Pipeline. The starting pitcher even had a short stint on the development list last August.
The right-hander seems to have left his struggles in the past and looks like a completely different pitcher in 2025. Abel has pitched so well through his first seven starts that Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski recently said during an appearance on SportsRadio 94WIP that he “wouldn’t hesitate” to call him up to the big leagues if the team needed a starting pitcher, per Jack Fritz on X.
Dave Dombrowski all but confirms Phillies' next emergency rotation call-up
The Phillies have one of the best starting rotations in the majors, featuring 2024 NL Cy Young runner-up Zack Wheeler. Entering Friday, they own the fifth-lowest ERA (3.37), logged the sixth-most innings pitched (208 1/3) and recorded the most strikeouts (234).
Although his first start was underwhelming, the Phillies got a boost to the rotation with Ranger Suárez, an All-Star a season ago, returning from injury. The team has a plethora of starting pitchers and was forced to move Taijuan Walker, who has pitched well this year, to the bullpen.
Abel could be first in line to be called up to the big league club if one of the Phillies’ starters misses time due to injury. The 23-year-old is 4-2 with a 2.75 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings pitched this season with the IronPigs.
Painter may get most of the attention among pitching prospects, and deservingly so, but Abel has had an impressive turnaround. He was 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA in 24 starts last year, and opponents hit .279 against him.
At the very least, Abel is improving his value to other teams when the trade deadline rolls around.