Phillies top prospect’s trip to development list pays off with his two best starts of the season

The Philadelphia Phillies have started to build a reputation as having a farm system to watch as evidenced by MLB Pipeline's recently updated farm system rankings. Currently boasting four young players considered by talent evaluators to be among the best in baseball, we're clearly looking at a reversal of fortune for a farm system that was once near the bottom of a number of prospect rankings over the last few seasons.

Now that the dust has settled from the MLB trade deadline, the Phillies front office was able to make a number of significant moves without leveraging its top four prospects to get a deal done. Sacrifices were certainly made in deals that sent pitchers George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri to the Angels for closer Carlos Estévez, in addition to sending 19-year-old shortstop prospect William Bergolla to the White Sox to acquire left-handed relief pitcher Tanner Banks.

Mick Abel's trip to development list pays off with his two best starts of the season

While the Phillies were able to make impactful trades without sacrificing key pieces of the team's future, it was notable that the Phillies received little reported interest regarding top pitching prospect Mick Abel.

The soon-to-be 23-year-old right-hander has struggled mightily in his second extended look at Triple-A. So much so that the Phillies placed the scuffling youngster on the development list on Aug. 1 to give him a break and refine his approach on the mound.

Abel's time on the development list seemed to be the right move, as the talented 2020 first-round draft pick has put together two of his most impressive starts of the season since being reactivated on Aug. 9.

In his first start, against New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate Scranton Wilkes Barre, Abel tossed six innings without allowing a run while striking out eight batters, scattering three hits and only walking two while earning a no-decision. With the strikeouts up and walks down, Abel showed flashes of dominance while not allowing a run to score for the first time all season.

The promising turnaround continued on Wednesday during his most recent start against the Worcester Red Sox. In a 95-pitch five-inning performance, Abel earned another no-decision, allowing a single run, in addition to striking out seven and holding the Red Sox to three hits. While he did walk four batters in the game, it should be noted that Abel struck out rehabbing Red Sox slugger Triston Casas twice before exiting the game with the score tied 1-1.

While these two recent starts represent a small sample size, Abel and the Phillies have seemingly corrected some major mechanical issues over the last couple of weeks. All signs point toward the former Top 100 MLB prospect finally making the right adjustments to be successful against advanced Triple-A hitters.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of work to unlock the promise in pitchers drafted out of high school. Could Abel be on the verge of a major breakthrough?