You could tell that Mick Abel had Saturday's game circled on his calendar since July 31 in a forgettable game for the Philadelphia Phillies. They traded the 24-year-old pitching prospect to the Minnesota Twins as part of the Jhoan Duran blockbuster this past trade deadline, which still looks like a massive win for Philadelphia.
Abel tried his best to make some people pump their brakes a little after the trade with his six shutout innings in a stellar outing that probably should've been expected.
Mick Abel twirled a gem in his return to Philadelphia
Abel missed bats early and often in a six-inning quality start to help the Twins to a 5-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park. He fanned seven out of the first 10 Phillies batters he faced, then tacked on two more en route to a total of nine strikeouts. It was Abel's best start at the MLB level since his electric debut back in June, when he also struck out nine over six scoreless.
The 2025 season has been one to remember for Abel, as he reached the majors for the first time since the Phillies drafted him in the first round in 2020. It's also been a rollercoaster ride, as his production has varied greatly between the Triple-A and MLB. Abel's final stats across 74 innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley include a 2.31 ERA and 1.16 WHIP that were good enough to earn him some hardware from the IronPigs.
We got to bring Mick's IronPigs Pitcher of the Year trophy to Philly! Twins General Manager Jeremy Zoll presented it to him. Congratulations Mick!#phillies #twins #mlb #milb pic.twitter.com/u2g74KDFBV
— Lehigh Valley IronPigs (@IronPigs) September 27, 2025
He was also excellent in a very short sample size for the Twins' Triple-A St. Paul, with an ERA of 1.85 and WHIP of 0.95 in 24 1/3 innings of work. He earned a call-up to the Twins on Aug. 23 and, thanks to shaky command, proceeded to get shelled in a rough first outing with the big club. That game was a perfect microcosm of Abel's 2025 season as a whole.
Abel's stats at the MLB level look wildly different, with a 6.23 ERA, 1.51 WHIP and .274 opponent average. His .195 opponent average in the minors shows that he was able to limit contact far more often at the Triple-A level and is further proven by his 114 strikeouts at that level. It just goes to show how much different the talent level is from Triple-A to the majors, though Abel may have proven that he can stay in the bigs with his revenge gem against the Phillies.