Skip to main content

Phillies take high school pitcher Abel with first round pick

By
Please consider supporting my work and subscribe to my Patreon page.  Your patronage will get you exclusive interviews and other prospect related material as well as early access to all of my other content such as this post.  Thank you.

With the 15th overall selection in the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft, the Phillies chose right-handed pitcher Mick Abel out of Jesuit High School in Oregon.  The 18-year-old was widely ranked as the top high school pitcher in this year's draft.

Per MLB.com, based on his build, arm strength and repertoire, he's drawn comparisons to Stephen Strasburg and Mike Soroka.

Abel is the first high school pitcher from Oregon taken in the first round since the 1994 draft when the Kansas City chose Matt Smith.

Due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, Abel did not pitch competitively in school this year.  However, he has been throwing bullpen session to Orioles prospect and last year's top overall draft pick Adley Rutschman, a former Oregon State backstop.  The elder battery member noted to Baseball America that he couldn't believe the offerings he caught from Abel were thrown by a high schooler.

Last year in his junior season, Abel, an Oregon State commit, sported a 1.26 ERA and a 13.8 K/9 mark in 72 1/3 innings of work while helping his school lock down a state championship.

The pitch menu for Abel includes a low-to-mid-90's fastball, an effective slider with good movement, a quality curve ball and a change up that earns raves and features sink.

There will not be a second round pick for the Phillies this year, as the team forfeited their selection after signing qualified free agent pitcher Zack Wheeler.  Their next pick will come at 87th overall in the third round.

Round two through five of this year's draft take place on Thursday, beginning at 5pm Eastern.  MLB announced last month that this year's draft would be reduced to just five rounds as a cost-cutting measure in the face of the pandemic and a 2020 season that remains on hold.

The Phils took shortstop Bryson Stott with the 14th overall pick a year ago.  The UNLV product notched a .295 average with six homers and 27 RBI in 48 games mostly with Class A short-season Williamsport as a 21-year-old.  Stott was honored as a New York-Penn League All-Star for his efforts.

Twenty years ago this week, the Phillies selected second baseman Chase Utley out of UCLA in precisely the same spot in the draft.

Videos of Mick Abel can be viewed in the embedded media players below.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

By
JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R
Post a Comment
Read more

McGwire Stays Phony, Despite Admitting Drug Use

By
Mark McGwire made an effort to publicly come clean today, admitting to the world that he took performance enhancing drugs during his playing career. Steroids and human growth hormones were among the drugs that McGwire admitted to using. MLB Network featured a one on one interview with Bob Costas and McGwire on Monday evening. The broadcast was virtually garbage, thanks to McGwire. Ahead is a list of quotes from McGwire's interview. McGwire repeatedly stated his point of view that there were no dishonorable intentions involved when taking steroids, and that he was merely using them as a means to recover from varying ailments. When asked if he felt like he cheated... "As I look back now...I can see how people would say that. As far as the talent goes and the hand-eye coordination, the ability, the genetics I was given...I don't see it." "I did not take this for any strength purposes." Denial. Read on for similar B.S. He whined about the abuse he'
1 comment
Read more

Diekman a Late Addition to Mesa AFL Roster

By
On Wednesday, Phillies lefty pitching prospect Jacob Diekman made his Arizona Fall League debut. Diekman, who was drafted in the 30th round of the 2007 amateur draft, was assigned to Mesa late, in order to increase his 2010 innings total, according to Mesa hitting coach Mark Parent, who managed Diekman in Lakewood this past season. Diekman, 23, posted a 2-0 record with 1.90 ERA in 21 games with Class A Lakewood before being promoted to High-A Clearwater on June 24th. In 24 games with the Threshers, Diekman went 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA. Combined, Diekman tossed 55 2/3 innings and held opponents to a .187 batting average against at two levels in 2010. However, after not pitching in an official game since he threw a shutout inning to wrap up the Clearwater season on September 5th, Diekman was unable to record an out as all seven batters he faced reached base, six with hits, one on an error. Diekman was charged with 5 earned runs in the outing. Diekman had spent time at instructional ball f
Post a Comment
Read more