LAKELAND, Fla. -- Not all Spring Training assignments are created equal, especially in February. Mick Abel pitched with the difficulty sliders turned up on Monday, and it didn’t faze him in the slightest.
Facing something looking an awful lot like an Opening Day lineup from the Tigers, Abel was brilliant in his 2026 Grapefruit League debut. He worked around a leadoff triple in the first and a leadoff error in the third to pitch three scoreless innings with five strikeouts and no walks in Minnesota's 3-0 win over the Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.
It looked a lot like his gem to end his season against the Phillies, his former team, last September and was a heck of an opening statement as the competition for three spots in the Twins rotation gets under way. Abel threw six types of pitches, got 12 swinging strikes on 46 pitches, and looked firmly in control from the jump.
“It's pretty electric stuff,” said Tigers manager A.J. Hinch. “I haven't had a ton of look at him, but it looks like he's going to be a problem to deal with.”
In the absence of Pablo López, the Twins appear to have three spots in their starting rotation up for competition. Joe Ryan and presumably Bailey Ober are set. Abel is competing with Simeon Woods Richardson, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews, and David Festa for one of the remaining slots.
And he, arguably, has the most pure upside of any of them. Abel’s fastball sits at 96 mph, and he mixes in a curveball, changeup, slider and sweeper -- all of which he threw on Monday. He got seven whiffs on the fastball alone, out of just 17 thrown. If you can throw fastballs past Major League hitters, you can be a star.
“That first inning I hadn’t really caught a rhythm yet with my breaking balls and the offspeed, but it’s good to know the fastball’s there,” Abel said. “I wasn’t throwing like the hardest today but it’s good to see my fastball still get that done. That was cool.”
Upon arriving from the Phillies in the Jhoan Duran trade last summer, Abel came out of the gate with a couple of rough outings. He was sent back to the Minors, made two strong starts, and upon his return, looked like a different pitcher. Facing those same Phillies on the season’s final weekend, he dazzled with nine strikeouts over six scoreless innings -- providing a tantalizing taste of the potential held by the former top-50 prospect.
“Yeah, I see it as an extension [of that finish],” he said. “I put in a lot of work this offseason to really become consistent with my preparation, consistent with how I feel in the game or how I go about my business during the game, whether that’s in between innings, in between pitches, in between batters. Really staying in the moment and pitching.”
It’s still very, very early in camp. For reference, Abel said this is the earliest he’s ever thrown three innings in a spring game. Some of the contenders haven’t even appeared in a game. It would be unwise to get too far ahead of things in assessing any single pitcher or game.
But there’s no doubt that Abel is a pitcher the Twins are excited about, and he showed a variety of reasons why that is on Monday. He kept a good lineup in check, kept his composure in two different challenging innings, and simply looked like he belonged. It was only a first step, but it was an awfully good first step.
“He gives up the triple in the first -- which was a good pitch … and then to be able to execute pitches after that,” said Twins manager Derek Shelton. “I think there were so many positive things he did in terms of not only his execution but how he controlled the running game, his holds, his looks. Just showed some maturity for a young kid against a division opponent with a really good lineup.”