Is there concern with Abel in Minnesota?
The Minnesota Twins dropped a lifeless 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night at Target Field, and manager Derek Shelton did not mince words when it came to what went wrong on the mound.
Right-hander Mick Abel lasted just four innings, giving up four runs on six hits while walking three and hitting two more.
That type of outing puts a team behind before they can even compete, and Shelton did not go easy on it afterward.
"He wasn't sharp," Shelton said. "I think the free passes there, whether it was the walks or the hit-by-pitches, we allowed too many baserunners. We can't put ourselves in a deficit where we have that many free baserunners."
The Damage Started Early
Abel ran into trouble almost immediately, giving up a pair of two-out baserunners in the first before things fell apart in the second when he loaded the bases by hitting Richie Palacios on an 0-2 count after already allowing a single and a walk.
He then plunked Yandy Diaz to force in a run, and Jonathan Aranda ripped a two-run double to make it 3-0 before most fans had settled into their seats.
His pitch count flew past 50 before he had recorded five outs, and while he managed to finish four innings, the damage was done.
Brooks Lee drove in the Twins' only run with an RBI single in the bottom of the second, but the offense never really got going beyond that, managing just three hits all night with none going for extra bases.
Tampa Bay's Steven Matz kept things under control on the other side with six strong innings and eight strikeouts to improve to 2-0 on the year.
A Troubling Pattern for Abel
What makes Saturday's outing more concerning is the context. Abel came into his first start on shaky ground after a rough relief appearance against the Orioles in the season-opening series, where he gave up five earned runs on eight hits and four walks over 3.1 innings after Bailey Ober got knocked out early.
Between the two outings, Abel has allowed nine runs on 14 hits with seven walks and two hit batters across 7.1 innings.
He is 0-2 with a line that screams control problems, the exact issues that have followed him his whole career.
Nobody questions the talent, and Abel showed what he can do when he came to Minnesota last summer in the Jhoan Duran trade and closed out 2025 with a brilliant start against his former Phillies club, striking out nine over six scoreless innings.
He looked great in spring training too, hitting 97 on the gun and whiffing five over three shutout frames against Detroit, but the regular season has been a different story and the walks and hit batters are a red flag for a rotation that cannot afford free baserunners.
Can Abel Turn It Around?
The loss dropped the Twins to 3-5, tying them with the Rays heading into Sunday's rubber match, and while it is still early enough that a few good starts could change the picture for Abel, Shelton's tone suggested the leash might not be long.
Minnesota entered the year with a rotation built around Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober, and guys like Simeon Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley are also competing for innings.
Abel was given a spot because of his upside, not because they had to, and if he keeps putting runners on for free they will look at other options.
The 24-year-old has the arm and the pitch mix to stick in a big league rotation, but until he proves he can throw strikes and stop beating himself, nights like Saturday will keep happening.