Phillies Send Star Pitching Prospect To Minor League Camp

Two days after striking out Juan Soto, this Philadelphia Phillies future star is heading to minor league camp.

The Philadelphia Phillies continued to trim their spring training roster on Wednesday, as they announced the move of three more players to its minor league spring training camp.

Most notable among the trio was pitcher Mick Abel, a Top 100 prospect in baseball and a potential pitching star of the future for the Phillies.

Also sent to minor league camp were pitchers Ryan Burr and Tyler McKay.

Abel was recently named the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline and is the No. 49 prospect in all of baseball. With No. 1 prospect Andrew Painter recovering from Tommy John surgery and out for all of 2024, Abel is the most likely starter to help the Phillies from the minors if needed.

One of Abel’s final acts before his reassignment was to strike out New York Yankees slugger on Monday.

That'll play.

The @Phillies ' Mick Abel -- MLB's No. 49 prospect -- gets Juan Soto to chase a 95 mph fastball for a K. pic.twitter.com/XPh8IKuN0Y

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 11, 2024

Abel was the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2020 out of Jesuit High School in Portland Ore. He didn’t get the chance to pitch in the organization until 2021 due to the COVID shutdown of minor league baseball.

After a 14-start stint with Class-A Clearwater in 2021, during which he went 1-3 with a 4.43 ERA, he improved in 2022. With High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading, he went a combined 8-11 with a 3.90 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 50 walks. Batters hit .229 against him.

Last year he started at Reading and was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley late in the season. He also spent some time on Reading’s developmental list. Combined he went 5-6 with a 4.13 ERA. He set a career-high in innings pitched (113.1) and strikeouts (132). He held batters to a 1.92 average but his walk rate went up slightly, as he gave up 65 walks.

The Phillies rotation is topped by two pitchers that will be with Philadelphia through at least 2027 — Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. That said, there is room in the back part of the rotation if Abel makes progress at Lehigh Valley, which would be a logical assignment as he prepares for the season.