Phillies try to shore up the trade value of a struggling young player

As the trade deadline approaches, the Philadelphia Phillies are looking to add players to solidify their best roster in baseball. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the front office’s focus is on the outfield and bullpen.

We’ve heard plenty of rumors about transfer targets from players the Phillies have a record of watching or inquiring about, but we don’t know what talent the organization considers moveable at the deadline. We can only guess what kind of talent packages Dave Dombrowski and his team are offering to potential transfer partners.

One candidate the Phillies could discuss with other teams is pitcher Mick Abel. But if the Phillies want to use the right-hander as a trade piece, they may need to do some PR to back up his perceived value. That’s what Phillies general manager Sam Fuld sounded like he might have done during his recent appearance on MLB Network Radio, courtesy of Phillies Tailgate on X (formerly Twitter).

Fuld began by talking about Abel’s problems. The right-hander began the season as the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect and No. 49 overall in MLB Pipeline’s top 100 rankings. The problem is that he struggled so much in Triple-A that he was recently demoted to No. 93. He fell right out of Baseball America’s top 100 rankings. That’s how bad his season was.

“I think everyone would admit it’s been a challenging season, including Mick himself,” Fuld said during his appearance. “He’s seen his performance drop off a little bit when he’s trying to get into the strike zone, and he just hasn’t been able to get many good starts in a row.”

In 15 starts for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Abel has a 6.88 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP with a career low of 8.47 K/9 and a career high of 7.01 BB/9.

Phillies say they see positive developments with Mick Abel

Despite Abel’s ongoing problems, there are positive developments, according to Fuld.

“Things are looking up again, and we’re happy about that,” Fuld said. “He’s 22 years old. It’s easy to lose sight of that sometimes because it feels like he’s been in the organization for a while and there’s a lot expected of him to throw well, but he’s 22.”

“He plays in Triple-A, which is a really tough environment to pitch in these days, especially with the ABS system, and the running environment there seems to be really hitter-friendly.”

The Phillies aren’t giving up on the young pitcher, and they shouldn’t. As Fuld points out, Abel is only 22, which is young for a pitcher in Triple-A — he’s more than five years younger than the average age for that level.

“He’s going through some tough times right now,” Fuld concluded. “But we have a lot of faith in the boy and are firmly convinced that he will get through it.”

If Abel can get things under control and get back on track, he has a chance to become a key part of the Phillies’ rotation plans going forward, unless the Phillies package him in a deal at the deadline to solidify the current roster for a World Series run.