‘Be the silent assassin’: Phillies’ Mick Abel pitches six scoreless innings, strikes out nine in MLB debut

Last November, Caleb Cotham, Travis Hergert, and Mick Abel had a meeting. Cotham, the Phillies’ pitching coach, wanted to discuss the prospect’s upcoming winter.

Abel was coming off the worst minor league season of his professional career. In his first year at triple A, he’d posted a career-high 6.46 ERA in 108⅔ innings. That came with a 15.1% walk rate — also a career high — and a strikeout rate of 22.7%, a career low.

Cotham and Hergert, the Phillies’ director of pitching development, were determined to get the 2020 first-round pick back on track. So, Cotham came up with a mantra.

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“Be the silent assassin,” he told the minor leaguer.

It was a different approach than what Abel had done in the past. In high school, and through his first two years of pro ball, he was vocal. He’d show emotion on the mound, good or bad.

Cotham’s message was that the Phillies didn’t need him to do that. If anything, they preferred the opposite.

“He’s a methodical, slower tempo guy, who, when paired with a true ‘me vs. you’ mindset, gets pretty dang good,” the pitching coach said. “It channels his thoughts into thinking with one goal: outs.

“Just a way to live out our ethos in his own way. No rah-rah, just, [I’m] coming at you.”

Added Hergert: “It was like, ‘You’re pretty tough already.’ You don’t need to be this macho guy, showing off. Go be Mick. Go be that silent assassin.”

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Abel embraced the mantra. He dropped his ERA to 2.53 through 46⅓ innings in triple A this year, cut his walk rate down to 9.9%, and raised his strikeout rate to 26.6%. It caught the Phillies’ attention, and when starting pitcher Aaron Nola was placed on the injured list on Friday, the team turned to the prospect.

They were happy they did. In his big league debut at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, the 23-year-old righty pitched his team to a 1-0 win over the Pirates to complete a series sweep. He threw six innings, allowing only five hits, with nine strikeouts, tying a franchise record for most strikeouts in an MLB debut.

He finished at 84 pitches, of which 62 were strikes. Abel was facing Cy Young Award contender Paul Skenes, but that didn’t seem to faze him.

“As locked in as a pitcher can get,” Cotham said of Abel’s outing. “He pitched them all day.”

The right-handed starter set the tone early. He hit 98.3 mph for his first pitch of the game, a four-seam fastball, en route to a strikeout of Oneil Cruz. It was a precursor of a particularly dominant performance against Cruz; three of Abel’s nine strikeouts came against the Pirates’ center fielder.

He relied primarily on his four-seam and his curveball, averaging 97.3 mph on the former and 83.9 mph on the latter. In the few moments that he did get into a jam, he was able to wiggle his way out of it — which is something he’s shown throughout this season at triple A.

In the third inning, Abel allowed a hard-hit single to Henry Davis. He induced another strikeout of Cruz, and a line out from Andrew McCutchen, but then gave up a two-out single to Bryan Reynolds to put runners on the corners.

Spencer Horwitz stepped up to the plate. Abel threw two curveballs out of the zone to give the first baseman a 2-0 count. In years past, this type of situation might have caused him to unravel. But not this year.

Abel dotted a 96.7 mph fastball up. Horwitz grounded out to end the inning. Hergert, who was watching from Section 134, was not surprised.

“He showed poise,” Hergert said. “Made a pitch with his best stuff, and [threw it] with conviction.”

This was another message that Cotham preached in his meeting with the prospect last November.

“Let the hitter give you the clues of what you need to do next,” Hergert recalled. “Don’t get consumed with trying to fix your delivery or your tempo or your arm slot, whatever it may be, and really stay over the plate. I think that’s the biggest thing, more than anything.”

The Phillies offense did just enough against Skenes to pull off a win (and a series sweep). They combined for only three hits, but scored one run off a Brandon Marsh force out in the fifth inning.

Nevertheless, it was Abel who was the story of the day. He will rejoin his former teammates in triple A on Monday, but he made a statement on Sunday afternoon.

A lot of it started with his work this past offseason. Abel added about 10 pounds of muscle over the winter. He refined his arsenal, upping his slider usage and making some adjustments to his changeup.

He tapped into the mental health resources that the Phillies had to offer, working with mental health director Deanna Nobleza and mental performance coordinator Todd Dilbeck.

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But the biggest difference has been in his mindset, or as Cotham puts it, his ability to be a silent assassin.

“It’s about channeling [my emotions] in the right way, to where I can go out there and have that killer attitude,” Abel said. “Not to be crazy about it. Just kind of be like, ‘OK, I’m here. Good luck.’”

Added Hergert: “It’s the mindset of hitters have to deal with me. Not, ‘Oh, I’ve got this guy in the box.’ No, they’ve got to deal with me."