After a strong spring training, Minnesota Twins right-handed starting pitcher Mick Abel, whom the Twins acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies along with catching prospect Eduardo Tait for closer Jhoan Duran as part of last summer's Trade Deadline fire sale, began the regular season with two rough outings; the righty allowed five earned runs on eight hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings of relief against the Baltimore Orioles on March 29, then surrendered four earned runs on six hits, three walks and two hit-batters across four innings in cold conditions against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 4.
While some Twins fans were worried about Abel's slow start, he isn't used to pitching as a reliever, and the cold conditions during his second outing easily could've affected his performance. Now, after two strong starts against 2025 postseason teams, it appears Abel, 24, is back to the version of himself that had a 2.05 ERA with 27 strikeouts over 22 innings in spring training.
Last Thursday in Minnesota, Abel hurled six shutout innings with six strikeouts while allowing four hits and three walks against the Detroit Tigers.
Mick Abel’s first appearance in workable conditions results in 6 scoreless innings. Previous outings were as the back end of a piggyback and starting with a 24-degree wind chill. Very good outing. #MNTwins
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 9, 2026
Abel followed his dominant start against Detroit with an even better outing against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, throwing seven scoreless innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts while allowing four hits, no walks and a hit-batter. Not to mention, Abel threw just 90 pitches last night, and he threw 102 in his previous start against Detroit. If the game had been closer, manager Derek Shelton may have considered keeping Abel on the mound for one more inning. Before facing Abel, the Red Sox had impressively scored at least six runs in three straight games.
Ex-Phillie Mick Abel is pitching like an ace during Twins' hot streak
MICK ABEL. SEVEN SHUTOUT INNINGS. CAREER-HIGH 10 STRIKEOUTS.
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) April 15, 2026
Since coming over in the Jhoan Duran trade, his stuff has been electric but execution has wavered at times. Not tonight. He DONINATED the Red Sox and showed the league what he looks like when he’s on. pic.twitter.com/4ucbGfUE0j
Largely due to Abel's dominant start, the Twins defeated the Red Sox 6-0 on Tuesday. The victory allowed the Twins to claim sole possession of the American League's first seed with an 11-7 record.
While having Duran would be nice, especially since the Twins' bullpen is the team's weak spot right now, having a starting pitcher of Abel's caliber is even better. If Abel continues to dominate, the Phillies may regret parting ways with the righty for a closer, even if Duran is one of the best bullpen arms in the league. Getting a promising catching prospect in addition to Abel makes the Duran trade look even better for the Twins.
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