Mick Abel’s 2024 season ended a rough note Tuesday.
Fellow Phillies pitching prospect Griff McGarry’s also may have done the same against Worcester.
Abel allowed nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits, three walks and a balk in 2 1/3 innings. He threw only 34 of 59 pitches for strikes and first-pitch strikes to just nine of the 17 batters he faced. The 23-year-old’s 24th start of 2024 was his second shortest.
The right-hander, who is the Phillies’ No. 6 prospect according to MLB.com , finished with a 3-12 record with a 6.46 ERA and 1.81 WHIP in 108 2/3 innings.
IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras said there are positives to take from Abel’s season.
“He’s doing a better job being a student of the game,” Contreras said before Tuesday’s outing. “That’s something he can hang his hat on going into next year. He’s still young, going through the process of learning about himself within the game.
“Over his last five starts [before Tuesday], he’s done some good things we can build off of going into 2025.”
The 23-year-old right-hander posted a 3.99 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in his six starts before Tuesday’s season finale. He struck out 43 and walked 17 in 29 1/3 innings.
Base runners and big innings have plagued Abel’s first full Triple-A season. He’s allowed 9.9 hits and 6.5 walks per nine innings in his 24 starts.
Abel walked two or fewer batters in only one-third of his outings. He pitched at least five innings in six of those eight starts.
https://www.mcall.com/2024/08/26/phillies-pitching-prospect-mick-abel-learning-how-to-handle-baseball-lifes-curveballs/
“You have to take a look at the season as a whole from the beginning and all his struggles he was fighting through,” Contreras said, “and the behind-the-scenes things we working like mad scientists trying to find the best way to move the needle forward.
“After the trade deadline with all the rumors and stuff that plays into the whole equation, a little bit of relief was lifted when he knew he was a Phillie. You could see it. He made some good adjustments and the pitching department just let him go out there and play.”
Abel’s last start Tuesday got off to a rough start. He walked the leadoff batter and threw first-pitch strikes to only two of the first nine he faced. The 6-foot-5, 200-pounder allowed the first four in the first inning, the first three in the second and the first four in the third to reach base.
Two of the three he walked came around to score. He also balked in a run in the first inning. He allowed four singles on four pitches in the third.
The results only tell part of the story. Contreras believes Abel’s advance work has been better.
“He has done a better job of preparing as far as dissecting hitters, talking to his catcher, finding out what the game plan is,” Contreras said. “When he goes up there, he’s reading hitters and looking at what they’ve done previous at-bats.”
Fellow right-hander Griff McGarry’s potentially final appearance of 2024 was a rough one, too. The Phillies’ No. 21 prospect walked the only three batters he faced on 12 consecutive pitches Tuesday before being taken out in the seventh inning.
McGarry has a 4.70 ERA and 1.92 WHIP in 29 games, all in relief. He had a stretch of eight consecutive scoreless outings despite 11 walks in those seven combined innings before struggling in his last two outings (5 ER, 4 BB, 1 IP).
The 25-year-old struggled at the end of his 2023 season, too, allowing 20 earned runs on 14 walks and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Roster moves
C Aramis Garcia cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.
INF Buddy Kennedy was optioned by the Phillies.
1B Carson Taylor and OF Ethan Wilson were promoted from Double-A Reading. Taylor was 1 for 4 Tuesday in his Triple-A debut.
C Jared Thomas was put on the Development List.
Notes
Scott Kingery is closing in on Rich Thompson’s IronPigs franchise record for career runs scored. Kingery scored a run in Tuesday’s game to give him 242. Thompson scored 244 from 2008-12. Kingery also had his 1,500th career at-bat Tuesday, which also is second Thompson (1,657).
Kingery also is second to Thompson in triples, hits, stolen bases, walks and games. His 53 home runs are fourth to teammate Darick Hall’s 74.
Kingery’s 209 career games at shortstop are the most. He passed J.P. Crawford and Brian Bocock (200 each) for most. Kingery also has most games played at second base (149).
Hall has the franchise’s career RBI record (271).
Rafael Marchan’s left shoulder impingement is progressing after playing five times in eight days ahead of Wednesday’s off day. Should he continue to at least hold steady, he’ll be an option for the Phillies moving forward into the playoffs.
“There’s nothing structurally wrong with him,” Contreras said. “He has some good days and not-so-good days. But he’s learning how to grind that stuff, and that’s what people don’t understand. As professionals, they play every day and some days you’re not 100%.
“But it’s the mental strength they have to be able to grind through. It’s his glove hand and there’s a lot of movement with that shoulder, crossing his body and pitches at the bottom of the zone where he still feels it. The training staff has done a good job with him to get him to the point where he can go out there and catch two days in a row.”
Marchan hit .278 with two RBIs and three walks in that recent five-game stretch.
“At the plate, the bat looks like normal,” Contreras added. “There were a couple times where overexerts himself on a swing or certain glove action, he’ll feel it. But the pain is subsiding pretty quickly, which lets us know he’s moving in the right direction.”
Up next
RHP Tyler Phillips (7-5, 5.19) vs. Worcester RHP Brad Keller (3-2, 3.26) in a 6:45 p.m. first pitch from Coca-Cola Park. Phillips also was 4-1 with a 6.87 ERA in eight games, seven starts, for the Phillies.
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com
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