Phillies take high school pitcher Abel with first round pick

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.

Comments

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Q&A with Tim Gradoville

Tim Gradoville is a career minor league catcher, who once, as a September call up, was up with the big club for the proverbial cup of coffee. Slated to be the Phillies bullpen catcher, at a later date, Gradoville is currently assigned as a special instructor with the Lakewood BlueClaws. I had the opportunity to speak with Tim and here's how that went down... What's the atmosphere with the BlueClaws like so far this season? Well, I think we have a good mix of players. We have some veteran guys, and some young guys too, so it makes for an interesting mix. I think the guys like to have a good time, and they're pretty loose and that translates into winning games. They have a good time. With a young team, you never know what you're gonna get, sometimes, but they seem to gel pretty well together, so that helps to build team unity, helps guys get along. They're having fun, they're enjoying baseball. This game can be a grind sometimes, if you're not having fun. What...

Mike McGuire Living a Dream With Favorite Team

LAKEWOOD, NJ- Every young ballplayer grows up wishing he could play for his favorite team. Mike McGuire has an opportunity to do just that after signing with the Phillies organization in July. McGuire was a 43rd round draft pick taken by the Cleveland Indians in the 2008 amateur draft out of the University of Delaware. Early scouting reports liked McGuire's abilities, despite some arm trouble. He advanced as far as High A Level Kinston last season. While there, he posted an 0-3 record with a 5.46 ERA in 9 games, 8 of which were starts. The Indians weren't happy with McGuire's efforts this spring and released him. McGuire caught on with the Sussex Skyhawks of the independent Can-Am League, where he stayed in shape and pitched against other formerly affiliated minor leaguers. As a starter with the Skyhawks, McGuire went 3-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 8 outings. From there, just as all players in those independent leagues hope for, the 24-year-old McGuire got noticed. The Phillies wer...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog