Although they already clinched the division and a first round bye for the postseason, the Philadelphia Phillies' final regular season series is full of storylines. The Minnesota Twins come to town for a weekend series that marks the return of a few familiar faces, most notably former Phillies prospect Mick Abel.
Abel has been up and down between Triple-A and the majors for Minnesota, but the Phillies' 2020 first rounder is back in the big leagues and slated to face his former team for the very first time this weekend since being dealt for Jhoan Duran at the trade deadline, along with catching prospect Eduardo Tait.
Mick Abel looking for revenge against the Phillies on Saturday
Sitting at 21 games under .500, the Twins' main focus is to evaluate their young talent to see if they can contribute to the club in the future. That includes Abel, who is currently scheduled to start the second game of the series in Philadelphia on Saturday. This would be Abel's second start and fourth appearance overall with the Twins, for whom he has a 14.63 ERA in eight innings pitched.
It is an incredibly small sample size, but Abel is doing even worse with the Twins than he was with the Phillies, with whom he had a 5.04 ERA in 25 innings. His command still appears to be concerning, as he's walked six batters in his eight innings for Minnesota, which is the main reason the Phillies sent him down in May. His first start with the Twins didn't go well.
HAVING A GRAND TIME pic.twitter.com/aZUNWMiCy7
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The 24-year-old right-hander still has solid potential if he can limit those walks though, as shown in his stellar MLB debut earlier this season. He certainly impressed in his first Triple-A start in the Twins organization.
The Twins clearly saw that potential when the Phillies dangled Abel at this past trade deadline. However, it's hard to believe the Phillies will regret parting with Abel when you look at the return they got. Duran has delivered as the full-time closer in Philadelphia, and he's one of the most fearsome closers in baseball and a postseason weapon.
This series has a theme of revenge, as it will be the first time that Duran and Harrison Bader face the team that traded them. Kody Clemens will also be joining Abel in wanting to prove the Phillies wrong for trading him for the first time since his trade in late April.