Phillies demote rookie pitcher Mick Abel to Triple-A two months after nine strikeouts in his debut
The Phillies also recalled reliever Seth Johnson from Lehigh Valley ahead of Friday's game against Cincinnati. The 23-year-old Abel made six starts for the Phillies and went 2–2 with a 5.04 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine walks. 'Mick needed to go down and breathe a little bit,' manager Rob Thomson said. 'Just get a little reset. It's not uncommon.'
A 6-foot-5 right-hander selected 15th overall by the Phillies in the 2020 amateur draft, Abel dazzled against Pittsburgh in May when his nine strikeouts tied a Phillies high for a debut set by Curt Simmons against the New York Giants on September 28, 1947. He hasn't pitched beyond the fifth inning in any of his last four starts and was rocked for five runs in 1 2/3 innings on Wednesday against San Diego.
Abel was 3–12 with a 6.46 ERA last year for Lehigh Valley, walking 78 in 108 2/3 innings. He improved to 5–2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight minor league starts this year, walking 19 in 46 1/3 innings. 'This guy's had a really good year,' Thomson said. 'His poise, his composure is outstanding. He's really grown. We just need to get back to that. Just attack the zone and get through adversity.'
The Phillies will give Taijuan Walker another start in Abel's place against San Francisco. Walker has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen over the last two seasons. He has made eight starts with 11 relief appearances this season and is 3–5 with one save and a 3.64 ERA.
Thomson said he had not made a final decision on who will be the fifth starter after the All-Star break. Top prospect Andrew Painter has two more scheduled starts in Triple-A before the MLB All-Star break and could earn a spot in the rotation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Athletics Cruise Past Giants 11-2 With Six Scoreless Innings From Sears
JP Sears pitched six scoreless innings. Nick Kurtz and Denzel Clarke hit home runs, and the Athletics cruised past the San Francisco Giants 11–2 on Friday night. Jacob Wilson and Brent Rooker both drove in two of six early runs off Justin Verlander as the Athletics took a 6–0 lead after three innings. Sears (7–7) allowed three hits and two walks, striking out six. Rookie Jack Perkins gave up two runs – one earned – in three innings for his second save in his third appearance. Verlander (0–6) was tagged for six runs on seven hits in three innings but fanned five. After Lawrence Butler singled in the first and scored on Rooker's single, the Athletics used four doubles in the second to score four times. Tyler Soderstrom and Max Muncy had two straight leading off for the first run. Wilson followed with a two-out, two-run double before scoring on a double by Rooker for a 5–0 lead. Zack Gelof – on the injured list since spring training – hit a sacrifice fly in the third. The game was delayed in the middle of the sixth when home plate umpire Andy Fletcher left after taking an earlier foul tip off his mask. Tripp Gibson finished behind the plate. Clarke tripled when play resumed and scored on Butler's single. Two outs later, rookie Kurtz hit his 13th home run for a 9–0 lead. Clarke's two-run shot in the seventh capped the A's scoring. Brett Wisely homered in the eighth, and the Giants got an unearned run in the ninth. Key moment: Wilson's two-out double to left in the four-run second came on a 0–2 pitch from Verlander. Key stat: Verlander is 262–152 in his career but winless in his first 14 starts with the Giants. He hasn't won since his final start for the Astros last season, beating the Guardians 4–3 on September 28.
Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Vinnie Pasquantino has 2 HRs, career-high 6 RBIs to lift Royals over Diamondbacks 9-3
Vinnie Pasquantino homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs. Bobby Witt Jr. added three hits and the Kansas City Royals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9–3 on Friday night. The Royals have won three of their past four games. The D-backs have dropped three straight. Pasquantino gave the Royals a 3–0 lead in the first with a three-run shot into the right field seats off left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez. The first baseman took Rodriguez deep again in the fourth, this time mashing the ball 401 feet over the right-center wall for a two-run homer and an 8–2 lead. It was Pasquantino's second career multi-homer game. Mark Canha added a solo homer in the fifth. Kansas City lefty Kris Bubic (7–6) gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks over seven innings. He struck out six. Rodriguez (3–5) gave up nine runs – eight earned – over 4 1/3 innings and now has a 5.78 ERA. He struck out seven but gave up 12 hits, including three homers. Arizona cut Kansas City's lead to 3–2 in the bottom of the first on Eugenio Suarez's sacrifice fly and Josh Naylor's RBI single. But the Royals came right back with three runs in the second to take a 6–2 lead. Suarez added a solo homer in the sixth – his 28th of the season. Rodriguez had two strikes on leadoff hitter Jonathan India in the first inning before hitting him with a pitch. Witt followed with a single and Pasquantino homered, foreshadowing a rough night for the D-backs. Rodriguez has a 6–9 record with a 5.49 ERA over 25 starts since signing with the D-backs on an $80 million, four-year deal in December 2023. The series continues Saturday when the Royals send RHP Michael Wacha (4–8, 3.62 ERA) to the mound. The D-backs counter with RHP Ryne Nelson (4–2, 3.61).
Arab News
9 hours ago
- Arab News
Doug Ghim clings to one-shot lead at John Deere Classic
SILVIS, Illinois: Doug Ghim shot a 3-under par 68 and held onto a one-stroke lead over Max Homa and a group of contenders at the John Deere Classic on Friday in Silvis, Illinois Homa is part of a five-way tie for second after also posting a 68 late Friday afternoon at TPC Deere Run. He matched Ghim at 12 under with a birdie at the par-5 17th hole, but after finding a bunker off the 18th tee he failed to save par and dropped back a shot. Ghim, a 29-year-old Illinois native, is hoping to land his maiden PGA Tour victory in his home state. 'They couldn't make it today but I'm anticipating family coming (Saturday), and I'm excited about that,' Ghim said. Ghim made an eagle for the second straight round, holing out from 179 yards away at the par-4 15th. 'I guess holing out two days in a row is always nice,' he said. 'It's been couple years since I think I holed out from the fairway. To get two back-to- back days is a great.' He reached 13 under for the tournament with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 4-5, but Ghim bogeyed his closing hole, No. 9. Homa entered the week an abysmal No. 122 in the FedEx Cup standings amid a disappointing season, but now he's in the mix for his first win since 2023. 'I don't think really much changes' on the weekend, Homa said. 'I mean, just play the golf course. You're going to have to shoot really low. If you went out there and tried to do something specific, I'm not so sure that is going to work. Somebody can go out there and shoot 11-under out there and jump everybody. 'So just go do what we did today and play another round of golf. Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday basically.' The round of the day belonged to defending champion Davis Thompson, whose bogey-free 63 catapulted him to 11 under. Tied with Homa and Thompson are Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67) and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (66). '(On Thursday) I hit a lot of great putts early but they were just burning the edges,' said Thompson, who made four birdies on each nine Friday. 'Then I was able to make a few on the back nine (Thursday) and just ride that momentum into today.' Colombia's Camilo Villegas (66) and Si Woo Kim of South Korea (67) are part of a group at 10 under as the second round finished up late Friday. Rickie Fowler dropped four shots in a four-hole span on his back nine, with two bogeys and a double bogey, but he birdied No. 17 to finish up a 1-over 72 and get to 5 under, which wound up being the cut line at the end of the day. Notable names who missed the cut included Tom Kim of South Korea (4 under), Australian Jason Day (2 under), J.T. Poston (1 under) and Canadian Adam Hadwin (2 over).
