Mick Abel outduels Paul Skenes with marvelous MLB debut as Phillies sweep Pirates

The Phillies' weekend series against the Pirates started and ended with surprising announcements.

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The Phillies' three-game weekend set against the Pittsburgh Pirates began with a surprising pregame announcement. It ended with the same way.

Speaking in the dugout before the Phillies' 8-4 victory to begin the series on Friday, manager Rob Thomson announced that for the first time since 2017, Aaron Nola was going on the injured list due to a right ankle sprain the team believed was contributing to his significant struggles. Perhaps just as surprising: Thomson announced that former first-round pick Mick Abel would be called up from Triple-A to start in his major-league debut on Sunday in a matchup against Pirates superstar right-hander Paul Skenes.

But before Sunday's main event, the Phillies and Pirates had to play two games. After a confusing rain delay, the Phillies pulled away late to earn a win on Friday. Things were much simpler the following night, as a dominant pitching performance and timely hitting powered a 5-2 victory to secure a series win.

Then came Sunday: the Phillies' first chance to see Abel on a major-league mound, and their first chance to face Skenes since his own call-up last summer and ensuing meteoric rise. The Phillies prevailed in a memorable pitcher's duel, 1-0.

Two hours before Abel took the mound, though, MLB announced that Phillies left-handed reliever José Alvarado had been suspended for 80 games — and deemed ineligible for the postseason — due to a test for performance enhancing substances coming back positive.

While the Alvarado news was a stunner which will alter the trajectory of the 2025 Phillies, there was still an important game to play. And the mood was lifted substantially when Abel tossed six scoreless innings, finding a way to match Skenes inning for inning, batter for batter, pitch for pitch. Abel left the game with a 1-0 lead, and that is where the score remained. The rookie picked up a win in his first major-league start with one of the most impressive debuts in recent memory:

Here is what stood out from this series, with a particular focus on Sunday's high-profile matchup:

Mick Abel submits a marvelous debut performance 

Thomson said on Sunday morning that he was not exactly sure what to expect from Abel in his major-league debut. He could, however, articulate what he was hoping to see.

"I don't know what I'm expecting," Thomson said. "But what I'm hoping is to get him throwing strikes, using his stuff, [performing] like he did in Triple-A. Go out there and have fun and relax and just go out and pitch."

Abel, who admitted on Saturday that he understood all sorts of nerves would be present when he took the mound, did all of that in spades — with a noticeable adrenaline boost helping him out. Abel averaged 95.6 miles per hour with his four-seam fastball in Triple-A this year. He was well above that for his entire start.

The first two pitches of Abel's major-league career were both fastballs for strikes — the first at 98.3 miles per hour, the next at 99.0 miles per hour. He spun an excellent curveball to get Pirates leadoff hitter O'Neil Cruz to chase for his first strikeout:

Perhaps predictably, Abel sustained his velocity uptick early on with the adrenaline flowing. But he also took care of the most important piece of business: staying in the strike zone. 13 of Abel's 15 pitches in the first inning were strikes. He needed just 11 pitches to strike out all three hitters he faced in the following inning; 10 of those pitches were strikes. Abel remained around 98 miles per hours hour, but also had the Pirates guessing with his secondary pitches. His slider was just as good as his curveball, but his fastball stole the show: 

Abel's final line: five hits, zero walks and nine strikeouts across six shutout innings. He only needed 84 pitches to do it, and 62 of those pitches were strikes. His fastball averaged 97.3 miles per hour. It was simply astonishing, even against a shaky Pirates lineup.

Phillies get their first look at Paul Skenes

Skenes is as must-see as it gets in terms of major-league pitching, and despite Pittsburgh's futility it has always felt as if his road starts are major events. Every time he faces an opposing lineup, pitches in a road ballpark or sees a particular star hitter for the first time, all eyes are on the 22-year-old with a triple-digit fastball.

Predictably, Thomson fielded his strongest grouping of bats — aside from behind the plate, where J.T. Realmuto had the day off and Rafael Marchán caught Abel, who he has familiarity with from their time together in the minor leagues. Instead of trying to support Abel with optimal defense — perhaps playing Johan Rojas in center field — Thomson opted to try to support him by scoring runs against a pitcher it is tremendously difficult to score runs against. So Brandon Marsh was the center fielder, and only three right-handed hitters (Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm) were in the lineup at all.

Skenes' dominance early on was almost comical. Marsh was the only Phillies hitter to reach base in the first four innings when he drew a walk. But the Phillies broke through in the fifth when Castellanos reached base with a "single" after his ground ball was fumbled by Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, advanced to third on a single from Kepler and scored on a fielder's choice hit by Marsh.

The Phillies could not muster anything else against Skenes, who only allowed the one run and three hits while striking out nine in eight innings of work. Fortunately for them, the one run was all they needed, as Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano each put up a zero to complete the sweep.

Odds and ends

Some notes and takeaways from the first two games of this set:

• The Phillies' win in Friday's series opener was not necessarily handed to them, but it came after a pair of late rallies aided by erratic Pirates pitching. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Phillies scored four runs while only recording one hit. They tacked on another three runs in the eighth inning to take a commanding 8-3 lead. Right-handed relief pitcher Daniel Robert struggled in the ninth inning, José Alvarado had to be summoned to record the final two outs. That ended up being his final outing until at least the middle August.

• Ranger Suárez was very good on Friday — his second strong outing in a row — though the left-hander did give up an untimely three-run home run with two outs and two strikes in the sixth inning. Suárez allowed six hits and those three runs across seven solid innings of work, throwing a season-high 98 pitches. It was Suárez's second consecutive start in which he went seven innings, an excellent sign after his season debut lasted only 3.2 innings.

• The Phillies' lone early run on Friday came on a run-scoring blooper from Bryce Harper, marking his 1,000th career RBI. Harper received a rousing ovation from the crowd and tipped his helmet after this knock:

• Ho hum, another stellar outing from Zack Wheeler. The Phillies' ace spun six scoreless innings and only allowed four baserunners in Saturday's win. Wheeler's season-long ERA is now 2.67; while the casual nature of his dominance continues to be astounding, he danced around a question about whether it feels as easy as it looks for him.

"I'm just trying to go out there and do the best I can," Wheeler said. "The results are what they are."

• Leading the offensive charge behind Wheeler on Saturday was Bryson Stott, who drove in three runs in a bounce-back game out of the leadoff spot. The first of those runs came on Stott's fourth home run of the season:

Stott's solo blast traveled 411 feet, his longest home run since July 26, 2024 and the eighth-longest of his major-league career.

Up next: The Phillies will be on the road for the next week, beginning with Monday's series opener in Colorado. After playing four games against the Rockies, the Phillies will head to Sacramento to take on the Athletics. 

Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam

Follow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice

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