First Pitch: 6:10 pm CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy

I can’t quite express the way my eyes lit up when the Twins announced that Mick Abel would be starting tonight.

It had much less to do with Abel — intriguing though he obviously is — and far more to do with the fact that, mercifully, there would be an actual storyline to cover during tonight’s game, after weeks of trying to convince ourselves that we’re actually interested in what Justin Topa has to offer in a high-leverage role.

Abel, of course, was one half of Minnesota’s return from the Philadelphia Phillies when they traded Jhoan Duran. While his trade-mate Eduardo Tait is more highly-rated, Abel was still regarded as the second-best prospect the Twins received in their entire July haul. What’s more, Abel’s proximity to the majors — he started six games for the Phils earlier this year, his 23-year-old rookie season — gives him the edge in the “interesting NOW” department, considering that Tait is 18 years old and catching in High-A.

Abel, a consensus top-100 prospect, didn’t impress much in his five Philadelphia starts, but is a very young righty who will get a ton of rope as a regular member of Minnesota’s rotation (as hoped by fans and front officers alike.) With over 500 minor-league strikeouts, Abel features a 96-mph fastball, which he pairs with a curve/slider/sinker mix and an occasional change-up. While far too inexperienced to qualify for any Savant leaderboards, the velocity alone is a promising attribute for a starting pitcher, and the early returns on his spin rate are promising.

He’ll be the story of the game no matter what he does, because that’s how starved the Twins are for A) good performances and B) absolutely anything interesting to talk about the final six weeks of a lost 2025 season.

Byron Buxton leads off tonight; Luke Keaschall remains in the heart of the order, and Royce Lewis sticks in the 8-hole even after a grand slam last night. (Royce is OPS’ing 1.167 over his last three games, with nine total bases but no walks.) Overall, the lineup — which reads Buxton/Larnach/Keaschall/Wallner/Jeffers/Lee/Clemens/Lewis/Outman — has that strange, “that’s not even that bad” sheen to it again. But whether due to underperformance or complete misevaluation, this same group which plays well on paper continues to disappoint. As such, it’s harder and harder to get your hopes up that any given 2025 lineup which “shouldn’t be horrible” will have any meaningful impact on winning ways in 2026.

GO TWINS GO, and welcome Mick Abel!