Abel among 3 pitchers added to Phillies' 40-man roster

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies added three starting pitchers to the 40-man roster on Tuesday night, protecting them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft: right-handers Mick Abel (Phillies’ No. 6 prospect), Jean Cabrera (No. 13) and Moisés Chace (No. 26).

The Phillies are looking to create as much starting pitching depth as possible entering Spring Training. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski cited the team’s inability to find a competent No. 5 starter in the second half as a key factor in the team’s 51-51 record from June 8 through an NL Division Series loss to the Mets.

Phillies pitching prospect Andrew Painter could join the rotation at some point in 2025, but it probably won’t happen until the summer because he has missed the past two seasons following an elbow injury and Tommy John surgery.

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Abel, 23, was the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2020. He has loads of talent and potential, but he stalled this year at Triple-A Lehigh Valley partly because of an inability to throw strikes. He dropped out of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects rankings as a result.

Abel went 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA in 24 starts with the IronPigs, striking out 117 and walking 78 in 108 2/3 innings. He has struck out 445 and walked 220 in 375 innings in his Minor League career.

“I know it’s been very public, some of the struggles Mick went through this year,” Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly said last month on The Phillies Show.

“Honestly, I think it’s going to be good for him in the long run, some of the things he had to go through. And I do think we tend to forget, he was a 22-year-old in Triple-A. Honestly, the way the game has trended, the Major Leagues and Triple-A, it’s a pretty wide gap now, just the talent level. Getting Mick to that upper level, using Major League baseballs with ABS, it’s a big adjustment for him.

“I think a lot of struggles that were public throughout the year, we know he’s made for that. There were some adjustments that came later, where he continued to trend up throughout the season with his stuff. We think he’s going to be a piece of what we’re doing going forward.”

Cabrera, 23, was the Phillies’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2021, becoming the organization’s first 19-year-old to win the award since Carlos Carrasco in 2006. It will be a nice story if Cabrera makes the big leagues. The organization paid six prospects six-figure bonuses at the start of the 2019-20 international signing period. They signed Cabrera, who is from Venezuela, for just $10,000. He went 5-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 14 starts this season with Class A Jersey Shore before being promoted to Double-A Reading, where he went 1-1 with a 5.16 ERA in six appearances (five starts).

Chace, 21, joined the Phillies in a trade with Baltimore for left-hander Gregory Soto. He went 5-4 with a 3.59 ERA in a combined 23 appearances (15 starts) with Class A Aberdeen, Jersey Shore and Reading.

“He has the stuff now to compete in the big leagues,” Mattingly said. “It’s just refining. The fastball is special. He’s got a sweeper, a cutter and a changeup. It’s a lot of finer points that we’re trying to do with him: holding runners, just the overall strike throwing is not quite where it needs to be. But to me he’s a guy that if he takes that next step from a command standpoint … he’s going to have real success.”

Abel and Chace were considered locks to be selected to the 40-man roster. Cabrera was in a group of other candidates like Griff McGarry (No. 21), Christian McGowan (No. 22), Eiberson Castellano and Tristan Garnett. Each is now eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft at next month’s Winter Meetings in Texas.

The Phillies on Tuesday also announced that right-hander John McMillon cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, giving the Phillies 39 players on the 40-man roster. That number could be trimmed again on Friday night, when the Phillies tender contracts to players still under team control.

Outfielder Austin Hays is one non-tender candidate.