No other person is writing about this on a Phillies site.
It is natural for all Phillies fans to think about how the Minnesota Twins will develop Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait, with the Phillies sitting half a game out on the NL East and acquiring Jhoan Durán.
Anyone can discuss the Phillies’ end of the trade on a Phillies blog, but it takes a sick and twisted individual to write about what the Twins are getting. It’s also way more fun to do than to mash 300 words together about how Dave Dombrowski acquired a closer.
So, what are the Twins looking to do with Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait?
Pitch Tweaks for Mick Abel
After a disastrous 2024 season, Abel bounced back in a big way for 2025. He reestablished himself as one of the best prospects in the Phillies system and earned a promotion in mid-May.
While he wasn’t great in six starts as a Phillie, there is still plenty to like and project in the future. He features a good fastball with above-average velocity and a sharp curveball that has shown the ability to get whiffs against big league hitters.
Unlike other pitchers in baseball with good stuff, Abel does not face durability questions. The Phillies did not baby him in the minor leagues and challenged him to pitch deep into games. In each of Abel’s three full minor league seasons, he’s pitched a combined 330.1 innings. He knows how to hold his velocity in starts and has stayed healthy.
Abel is still going to need plenty of work before making the jump to being a full-time starting pitcher in the big leagues. The first thing he needs is a secondary offering he’s confident in throwing outside of his curveball.
As I wrote here roughly four weeks ago, Abel threw 43 fastballs, 20 curveballs, and just 10 other offerings against the New York Mets on June 21. He was effectively a two-pitch pitcher and hitters like Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Pete Alonso had their way against him.
In his last big league start against the Padres, Abel began working his slider for strikes, and it was effective in the first inning. His slider has a bit of a hard, death-ball shape with little horizontal movement but carries drop. Fangraphs gives it a stuff+ of 111, so it can be a pitch he looks to use more.
Even after that, you would like for Abel to figure out something else to round out the mix. He has tried throwing a changeup that has had success in the minors but he never looked comfortable throwing it in the majors. I wonder if there is an avenue to just giving him more of a pure splitter that might not have fading action but a ton of drop.
It might overlap a bit with the slider but given that he would be mainly using it against lefties, there shouldn’t be too many sequencing problems involved.
Eduardo Tait’s Situation
Tait might be the headline of this deal for the Twins but is much farther away from the big leagues than Abel. His hit and power tools are easy to fall in love with and he’s shown fewer chase issues month by month.
With the potential question marks about whether or not Tait can stick behind the plate, it is fair to bring up the organization he went from to the one he’s joining. The Phillies haven’t always prioritized framing but overall athleticism and receiving abilities from their catchers. JT Realmuto is the outlier example in this regard but Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs also fit this description.
At least from the catchers the Twins have put on the field over the years, they have not prioritized the strongest defensive players, instead opting for offense whenever they can. Mitch Garver is the poster child for this. Ryan Jeffers has never been a solid backstop, and this was the last organization to give Gary Sánchez split-time catching reps. It’s clear their priorities and overall philosophy in the position are different than the Phillies.
With all of that said, it’s much easier to imagine Tait sticking at catcher in an organization with a history of being way more forgiving of defensive issues in favor of an offensive profile.
How both of these prospects fare in a new situation with new voices in their ear will be fascinating to watch. Both Abel and Tait have big league potential and the capacity to be real contributors to the Twins’ next core as they enter what looks to be a rebuild after trading 40% of their roster over the trade deadline.