May 18, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Mick Abel (40) throws a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The Phillies needed a positive development Sunday afternoon to take the attention off of José Alvarado's 80-game PED suspension, and Mick Abel provided one.
In his Major League Debut, Abel pitched six shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing five hits and striking out nine batters. He did this all without issuing any walks:
St. Mick?
(Via @PitchingNinja)
pic.twitter.com/P8nix9dk4B
Abel was opposed by Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. Skenes more than lived up to the hype Sunday afternoon, striking out eight Phillies and allowing just three hits over eight innings. His only blemish was an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Brandon Marsh in the bottom of the fifth inning that ended up being the difference in a 1-0 Phillies win. But Skenes was still credited with his first career complete game Sunday because there wasn't a bottom of the ninth inning.
The Pirates are one of the worst lineups in baseball, but it's impressive nonetheless to see Abel pitch this well in his first MLB start. When you add in the context of the Alvarado news breaking shortly before the game and the opposing pitcher being Skenes, you come away even more impressed by how the 23-year-old fared Sunday afternoon.
"Thoroughly," Rob Thomson said after the game of how impressed he was by Abel. "I mean, for him to come up here, in this atmosphere ... 74% strikes ... what was he? 16 of 22 first-pitch strikes ... landing his breaking ball ... getting a lot of swing and miss ... just very, very impressive. Poise level is really, really good."
Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano all pitched scoreless innings in relief of Abel to secure the victory, a positive sign for what life will be like without Alvarado for the Phillies.
Romano, who recorded the save, raved about Abel afterwards.
"Oh man, I can't even imagine just all the emotions," Romano said of Abel with a smile. "First, making your debut, all the emotions there and just having, I mean, the best debut I've ever seen. It was incredible. It was really fun to watch him work out there, attack — pitching like a veteran out there. So it was really cool."
Abel — a first-round pick in 2020 — appeared to be headed towards being labeled a bust after posting a 6.46 ERA in 108 2/3 innings at Triple-A Lehigh Valley a year ago. But he's rebounded nicely for the IronPigs this season, having posted a 2.53 ERA across his first eight starts of the season before this promotion.
The Phillies do expect to stick with the plan of Abel returning to Triple-A Lehigh Valley Monday, but in the meantime, he helped them bridge the gap to Taijuan Walker returning to the rotation in Aaron Nola's absence. And there was a real feeling Sunday that it won't be long until Abel is back at Citizens Bank Park.
"Well, you know, it's just the circumstances make us do it," Thomson said. "But he keeps throwing the ball like that, I guarantee he's going to be back."
