It wasn't a great day for Mick Abel of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Abel, who has thrown the baseball at a somewhat decent level throughout the year, only threw in 1.2 innings against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday afternoon.
The young right-hander allowed two hits, five walks, and five earned runs. He couldn't get anything going his way, and it was a bit concerning.
Eventually, Philadelphia will have a decision to make on his future.
Some have suggested that Abel could be in the rotation moving forward, while others believe that he could be a trade chip for the Phillies.
Regardless of what Philadelphia wants to do in its rotation, Abel throwing the baseball the way he can is needed.
The Phillies could consider trading him, which would likely increase his trade value. Even if they don't, clearly, they'd want him to throw the baseball at a decent level.
When speaking to reporters after the game about whether his job is in jeopardy, skipper Rob Thomson was non-committal about his future in the rotation.
This could be a telling sign of what's to come.
"We haven't talked about it," Thomson said, per On Pattison. "I haven't talked to Mick either. So I'm not sure how he's feeling. I'm sure he's disappointed in his start, but we'll talk about it."
Abel started his big league career off on the right foot, throwing six innings of five-hit baseball with zero earned runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fast forward to June, and he wasn't exactly great. He posted a 4.67 ERA and only struck out nine hitters in 17.1 innings.
With his strikeout stuff being as bad as it's been, there's a good chance he'll continue to get touched up a bit. With hitters swinging it at the highest level around Major League Baseball, not having strikeout stuff is often a big issue.
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