When and where will be Mick Abel’s next start?

His immediate future is suddenly cloudy

The first game of yesterday’s doubleheader was a rough one for Mick Abel. The young right hander lasted just 1.2 innings and allowed five runs. He completely lost the strike zone in his second inning of work and finished with five walks and an unsightly 28:25 ball to strike ratio. Abel surrendered three straight walks. the first of which after getting the nine-hole hitter behind 0-2, which forced in two runs before Manny Machado added three more with a double.

It was the second start in a row in which Abel could not make it into the fourth inning. In his last start which occurred on June 21st, Abel allowed four home runs and six total runs in just three innings pitched against the Mets. He deserves some grace for the long layoff in between seeing hitters that occurred due to last Friday’s rainout, but this is now a growing trend. Perhaps most concerning, this situation more closely resembles the pitcher he was in Triple-A before he turned his career around this season. In 24 starts for Lehigh Valley in 2024, Abel walked 78 batters in 108.2 IP and logged a 6.46 ERA.

Since his dazzling debut on May 18th in which he threw six shutout innings, Abel has not finished the sixth inning in any of his five starts since. In fact, he’s only lasted at least five innings in two of those starts. His Major League season ERA is now 5.04 in six starts.

It’s not uncommon for rookie pitchers to struggle of course. Our own Smarty Jones pointed out that a certain Phillies legend had a rather inauspicious first few months in the Majors as well.

It’s far too early to write off Abel after a few rough starts, but it is a growing concern for this season. The Phillies as is do not have a strong bullpen, so they need length from their starters to help cover for that weakness as well as give their trustworthy relievers days off. It’s not fair to think that Abel should be matching what the rest of the rotation is doing, as they are on pace to be one of the best in Phillies history. But he can’t keep struggling to get past the third inning either.

If the rotation stays as is, Abel’s next scheduled start would either be Monday or Tuesday in San Francisco. That would be his last start before the All-Star break. But his recent struggles could lead to the Phillies reshuffling their rotation thanks to two off-days over the next week before the break or they could opt to skip Abel’s next start all-together. Then of course there’s the more drastic option of sending him back to Triple-A to get right again for a return after the break.

So, when and where will be Mick Abel’s next start? Will he make that scheduled start in San Francisco for the Phillies? Will they skip over him? Or will his next start be as a member of the Iron Pigs?