Minor-league week in review: Mick Abel fires power fastball, strikes out 8 in latest start

Mick Abel is a former first-round pick. (Baseball Betsy)

The top pitching prospect in the Philadelphia Phillies system showed off a fastball that neared triple digits in the latest week of the Minor League Baseball season.

2020 first-round pick Mick Abel brought the velocity as he struck out eight Dunedin Blue Jays on Sunday in a 9-3 win for the Low-A Clearwater Threshers.

The victory evened Clearwater’s record at 21-21 after seven weeks of play; the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws are 17-24; the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils are 15-17; the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs dropped to 19-23.

Abel Strikes Out Eight in Longest Outing

The 19-year-old touched 99 mph on his fastball in his four-inning, eight-strikeout performance. The right-hander got 14 swings and misses out of 58 pitches. He allowed just one run on a fourth-inning home run by Orelvis Martinez.

It was the first time Abel completed four innings in his minor-league career, and he maintained velocity throughout the outing. He threw 48 fastballs out of his 58 pitches, all above 95 mph and averaging 96.4 mph, according the Statcast.

Abel now has a 4.91 ERA in 25 2/3 innings over nine starts, while striking out 13.3 batters per nine innings.

Leverett Continues to Shut Down Hitters

22-year-old Adam Leverett has found success all season for Jersey Shore, and continued the trend this past week. The right-hander made two outings for the BlueClaws against the Hudson Valley Renegades, and he allowed just one run in 8 1/3 innings.

On Tuesday, Leverett started and pitched five scoreless innings while giving up two hits and two walks and striking out five. He threw 3 1/3 in relief on Sunday, surrendering just one run on two hits and four walks and striking our four.

The former 15th rounder in the 2019 draft has a 0.61 ERA in eight outings and is striking out 9.8 batters per nine.

Mark Appel is a former No. 1 overall pick. (Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)

Appel Posts Best Outing of Season

Reading won its second series in a row as it took four out of six games against the Harrisburg Senators, but the most intriguing performance of this past week came in a Fightins loss.

Former No. 1 overall pick Mark Appel threw a scoreless five innings on Saturday in an 5-3 extra-inning loss. It was the first time the 29-year-old even pitched into the fifth inning and his second outing without allowing a run of the year.

Appel’s ERA is 5.84 in eight outings and 24 2/3 innings. He’s averaging 8.8 strikeouts per nine.

Cordell Goes on Homer Streak for IronPigs

Veteran Ryan Cordell put on a power display in Lehigh Valley’s last three games against the Worcester Red Sox, but the IronPigs still dropped all three contests.

The 29-year-old outfielder homered in losing efforts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Cordell leads the IronPigs with nine home runs on the season.

Farm Notes

Outfielder Matt Vierling was called up to the Phillies major-league roster on Saturday after playing 24 games for Reading and three for Lehigh Valley. He went 2-for-4 in his first to games in the majors.
20-year-old outfielder Jose Cedeno was promoted to Reading on Sunday. Signed in 2018, he’s played just 50 games in rookie ball between 2018 and 2019, but Phillies like his strength and bat speed.
Brock Stassi went 4-for-13 in his first series back with the Fightins after rejoining the team on Tuesday.