Philadelphia Phillies Starting Pitcher Plummets in Prospect Rankings

A top pitching prospect for the Philadelphia Phillies had a brutual 2024 season

Feb 25, 2024; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Mick Abel (74) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the sixth inning at BayCare Ballpark. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have had an excellent 2024 season, as they are going to be playing baseball in October once again. 

This year, the Phillies really look like a complete team, as they have a great starting rotation, a powerful lineup, and a deep bullpen. While the National League does appear like it’s going to be a battle in the playoffs, Philadelphia is certainly battle tested. 

One of the main reasons for their success has been because of two of their young pitchers stepping up in the starting rotation. The development of Christopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez into stellar starters in the Majors will be a big boost for the organization in the playoffs. 

While the starting staff looks good, Philadelphia does have two aging aces in Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. These two won’t be around forever, and the organization will be trying to develop more pitchers like Sanchez and Suarez. 

One player the Phillies hoped would be in the starting rotation soon was prospect Mick Abel. However, Abel had a really poor year in 2024. Recently, Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report spoke about Abel being one of the biggest fallers in the prospect rankings, as he went from 37th at the start of the campaign to unranked now. 

“The projectable 6'5", 190-pound right-hander entered the 2024 season with 328 strikeouts in 266.1 innings and poised to push for his first taste of the big leagues after closing out the previous year at the Triple-A level. However, what had been spotty command at times in previous years has reached an untenable level this season, as he has issued 78 walks in 108.2 innings while surrendering a 6.46 ERA and 1.81 WHIP in a full season at the highest level of the minors.”

The big fall for Abel in the prospect rankings is certainly disappointing for Philadelphia, as they had high hopes for the big right-hander. In Triple-A this season, Abel had a dreadful 3-12 record and 6.46 ERA. 

It was certainly a struggle for the young prospect in 2024, as he could likely have made a push to make the main roster this season if he was pitching better due to the struggles of Taijuan Walker. Now, Abel will have to prove himself once again in Spring Training and likely the minor leagues in 2025. 

While he is still just 23 years old and has pitched well in previous years, the bad campaign for Abel this year wasn’t an encouraging thing for the organization.