McLean Stine "Mick" Abel (born August 18, 2001) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Abel was selected by the Phillies in the first round with the 15th overall pick of the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

and made his MLB debut in 2025.

Amateur career

Abel grew up in Cedar Mill, Oregon, and helped lead the Cedar Mill Little League team win a state title as a youth. He graduated from Jesuit High School, where he was both a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

on the baseball team. Abel's sophomore season was cut short by an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that required surgery. As a junior Abel posted a 10–0 record with a 1.26 ERA and 111 strikeouts in innings pitched while also batting .294 with 12 runs scored and 14 RBIs as he helped lead the Crusaders to a state championship and was named the Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year and a Junior All-American by MaxPreps. In 2019, he was selected for U-18

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team, also known as Team USA, represents the United States in international level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The United S ...

. Entering his 2020 senior season Abel was named a preseason All-American by MaxPreps and ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' and was considered to be a top prospect for the upcoming draft. He was also ranked the fourth best collegiate prospect in the nation and committed to play at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

after his freshman year of high school. Despite the 2020 season being cancelled due to COVID-19, Abel was once again named Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Abel was selected by the

with the 15th overall selection in the

2020 Major League Baseball draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

. Abel signed with the Phillies for a $4.075 million bonus. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Abel made his professional debut in 2021 with the

Low-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

Clearwater Threshers The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 20 ...

. Over 14 starts, he went 1-3 with a 4.43 ERA and 27 walks and 66 strikeouts over innings. He missed time during the season due to a shoulder injury. Abel was assigned to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

at the beginning of the 2022 season. He went 7-8 with a 4.01 ERA and 103 strikeouts over 18 starts with Jersey Shore before being promoted to the

Reading Fightin Phils The Reading Fightin Phils (also called the Reading Fightins) are a Minor League Baseball team based in Reading, Pennsylvania, playing in the Northeast Division of the Eastern League. The team plays their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium. The R ...

of the Double-A Eastern League. In his Double-A debut on August 20, Abel allowed two runs and struck out eight batters in six innings to earn the win over the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

. Abel spent the 2024 campaign with the Triple–A

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and they are named in reference to pig iron, used ...

, making 24 starts and struggling to a 3–12 record (leading the league in losses) and 6.46 ERA with 78 walks (2nd in the league; 6.5 per 9 innings) and 117 strikeouts (9.7 per 9 innings) across innings pitched. On November 19, 2024, the Phillies added Abel to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Abel was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to begin the 2025 season.

Major leagues

Abel made his major league debut as the starting pitcher for the Phillies against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Citizens Bank Park Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's South Philadelphia Sports Complex. Home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the stadium opened April 3, 2004. It is named after Citizens Financi ...

on May 18, 2025. He threw six scoreless innings, striking out nine batters with no walk, and tied Curt Simmons for the most strikeouts in an MLB debut by a Phillies pitcher since at least 1901.

References

External links

*
Mick Albel
USA Baseball profile
Perfect Game Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Mick 2001 births Living people Baseball players from Portland, Oregon Clearwater Threshers players Jersey Shore BlueClaws players Jesuit High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players Reading Fightin Phils players United States national baseball team players 21st-century American sportsmen