The prospect spotlight dimmed on Mick Abel. That’s helped him come of age going into a critical season.

Amid the worst season of the former first-rounder’s career, Abel worked to “understand better who I am as a person and a pitcher.” That has led to a new perspective on dealing with expectations.

Phillies pitching prospect Mick Abel is trying to rebound from a dismal 2024 season. "Nothing ever felt consistent," he said.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Feb. 18, 2025, 4:56 p.m. ET

CLEARWATER, Fla. — When trade talks with the White Sox last summer didn’t end in a deal for Garrett Crochet, the Phillies rifled through their closet for a No. 5 starter and came up with this:

⋅ Michael Mercado: 8.10 ERA in two starts.

⋅ Tyler Phillips: 7.44 ERA in seven starts.

⋅ Kolby Allard: 5.29 ERA in four starts.

⋅ Taijuan Walker: 11.14 ERA in five starts back from the injured list.

⋅ Seth Johnson: 34.71 ERA in one start.

It only added to Mick Abel’s misery.

Because Abel knew this could’ve been his chance. He was so close, a 90-minute drive from Citizens Bank Park up the Blue Route and the Northeast Extension at triple-A Lehigh Valley.

If only he wasn’t having the worst year of his career.

“I definitely had my moments where I’d think about it,” Abel said Tuesday before another workout in Phillies camp. “But I also knew that I never put myself in a position to be given that opportunity. So, during that second half I was like, ‘I’ve just got to work on myself.’ I obviously care what happens transactionally, but I also would like to understand better who I am as a person and a pitcher.”

Abel paused.

“It definitely was a little fuel for the fire in the offseason,” he said.

Abel shouldn’t lack motivation. He’s 23 now, still young for triple A. But the 2020 draft also feels like ancient history. And 10 of the 14 players taken ahead of him have tasted the majors, notably Crochet, who broke through as an All-Star last season and went to the Red Sox in an offseason blockbuster.

Meanwhile, Abel tumbled down the prospect charts after giving up 119 hits and 78 walks in 108⅔ innings and posting a 6.46 ERA over 24 starts for Lehigh Valley last season.

But although Abel’s prospect luster has dulled, the Phillies are hopeful that he will actually benefit from having gone through tough times. They added him to the 40-man roster in November rather than risk losing him in the Rule 5 draft. Last month, they sent him to a four-day rookie program for MLB prospects.

And in frequent offseason check-ins with Abel, pitching coach Caleb Cotham drilled home a consistent message: Keep it simple.

“It goes into the routine; it goes into when I’m out on the mound,” Abel said. “It’s not overthinking certain pitches. I threw [to hitters Monday], and it was free and easy and simple. I knew what I was doing that at-bat. I understood what the pitches were in a 1-2 count and what my weapons were going into the at-bat. It felt good. It’s just trying to live and breathe the simplicity.”

Sounds easy, right? But Abel is a thinker. He doesn’t dive into pitching analytics so much as he submerges himself. Ask about his sinker, and he’s liable to note the vertical separation from his four-seam fastball. Last spring, he changed the shape of his slider to create a spiral, or “gyro,” action rather than a sweeping movement. He digs into the data, always studying, constantly tweaking.

You can imagine, then, how Abel reacted when he walked four of 12 batters in his first start of the season.

“I was trying to do so many things week to week that there was no consistent routine, whether it be catch play or in bullpens or even off the field,” Abel said. “Nothing ever felt consistent. By the end of the season, I was looking forward to the offseason.

“A lot of it was trying to people-please, and a lot of it was just trying to be coachable. But I didn’t really realize in certain moments early on in the season that, all right, that’s not what I should be doing. I wasn’t really taking ownership in that way. Because I knew what I could do and I knew what I needed to do to get back to a place where I felt like myself.”

At various points, the Phillies offered to skip Abel’s turn in the Lehigh Valley rotation and give him a break to reset his mind. He insisted on taking the ball as long as he was physically able, and for a third season in a row, he stayed healthy.

That isn’t insignificant. Because pitchers do tend to break. Top prospect Andrew Painter, who was expected to make his major league debut in 2023, is only now back on the mound after tearing an elbow ligament, having Tommy John surgery, and missing two seasons.

But while Painter is back in the mix to make his major league debut by “July-ish,” based on president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s loose timeline, Abel’s future is cloudy. The Phillies traded for lefty Jesús Luzardo to occupy the fifth-starter spot and signed swingman Joe Ross. The rotation is far deeper now than last summer.

That puts Abel back in triple A for a third year. The 6-foot-5 righty has filled out over the last year. After years of fiddling with his offseason pitches to determine which is best and struggling to command all of them, he’s sticking with the gyro slider and his curveball. He figures the consistency will enable him to throw more strikes.

But Abel also believes he has come of age from a mental standpoint. Maybe there’s something freeing about the prospect spotlight shining more brightly on so many others in camp, including Painter, infielder Aidan Miller, center fielder Justin Crawford, and pitching curiosities Moisés Chace and Jean Cabrera.

“I think the expectations that I’ve put on myself previously because of [the prospect hype] have definitely gone away,” Abel said. “But I think also my definition of success has changed, and that’s really been the key indicator as far as how I should go about my business and how I need to master what I do.

“Ultimately, I know what’s best for myself and what I need to do, day in and day out. Knowing that part of it now, I’ve got a really good routine going. I feel set with what I’m doing. I kind of know what I need to do every day. It feels good.”