Phillies' spin on top pitching prospect's struggles gives us hope

The last two seasons have been full of developmental learning curves for Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Mick Abel. The 2020 first-round draft pick and No. 6 Phillies prospect struggled mightily during his first full Triple-A season, yet members of the Phillies baseball operations team remain confident that the young hurler will make the proper adjustments and get back on track next season.

At 23 years old, Abel was still young for Triple-A competition, but his overall numbers in 2024 left a lot to be desired. After posting a record of 3-12 in addition to an alarming 6.46 ERA, Abel clearly has a lot of work to do this offseason. His 78 walks in 108 2/3 innings of work points to his command being a major issue. Combine that with 78 earned runs, and it's easy to see where Abel will need to focus his attention this offseason.

Phillies' spin on top pitching prospect's struggles gives us hope

With Abel still very much a part of the Phillies' future plans, members of the front office have not panicked despite the young hurler's Triple-A struggles. Phillies former director of player development and new general manager, Preston Mattingly, was a recent guest on The Phillies Show podcast, and spoke about where things stand with the development of Abel heading into the offseason.

“I know it’s been very public, some of the struggles Mick went through this year," offered Mattingly. "Honestly, I think it's [adversity] going to be good for him in the long run, some of the things he had to go through. I think we do tend to forget he is a 22-year-old in Triple-A … the major leagues and Triple-A, it's a pretty wide gap now, just the talent level.”

Doubling down on Abel's still relatively young age (he turned 23 in August), Mattingly didn't seem too concerned with how some of his recent struggles have affected him. In fact, he thinks that Abel is the type of competitor who will find a way to use it to his advantage next season. Mattingly was honest about Abel's poor showing in 2024 but also pointed to some positives based on a couple of his performances later in the season.

“I think getting Mick to that upper level using major league baseballs with ABS [automatic ball/strike challenge system], it's a big adjustment for him," added Mattingly. "I think a lot of struggles that were public throughout the year, we know he's made for that and I think there was some adjustments that came later, where he continued to trend up throughout the season with his stuff. We think he's going to be a piece of what we're doing going forward.”

With a full-on competition slated to take place in spring training for the open fifth starter spot, Abel will have some added motivation to put the work in this offseason. While 2024 was certainly disappointing for the youngster, it's beyond clear from Mattingly's comments that members of the Phillies front office have not yet given up on one of the organization's top prospects.

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