Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Twins won their second-straight spring training game on Monday, making them 2-1 in Grapefruit League play. The highlight of the afternoon was an impressive 2026 Fort Myers debut for 24-year-old starter, Mick Abel.
A 2020 first round pick out of high school in Beaverton, Oregon, Abel came over to the Twins from the Phillies before last year’s MLB trade deadline, as the main return for flamethrowing closer, Jhoan Duran.
Mick Abel impresses in Minnesota Twins spring training debut
After the Mick Abel allowed a leadoff triple to start the bottom of the first inning, he responded by striking out the next three Tigers he faced, stranding Detroit center fielder Matt Vierling at third base.
From there, Abel would go on to allow just one more hit over three scoreless innings, striking out a total of five Tigers batters and walking none. Not a bad first spring impression for a high-end talent battling for the fifth and final Minnesota Twins rotation spot.
Unfortunately, the team did not put out any video of Abel’s start and today’s game at the Tigers’ home spring training stadium in Lakeland, FL was not televised so all we get until the next time Mick takes the bump again are tweets like these.
Mick Abel had 12 swings and misses in his 46 pitches thrown today. #MNTwins
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 23, 2026
How far the Twins go this season will depend on guys like Mick Abel stepping up.
Today he showed up to Spring Training and made it clear he’s ready: six different pitches, most of them already average or better. pic.twitter.com/7xKjZREOaa
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) February 23, 2026
With Pablo Lopez down for the season, the Minnesota Twins will need a couple young starters — whether it’s Abel, Taj Bradley (who also had a good outing on Sunday) or a breakout year for Zebby Matthews — to step up big if they are going to stand any chance of competing in 2026, like their new top Pohlad believes they can.
Ken Rosenthal calls out Tom Pohlad for talking big and spending… nothing
Of course, there aren’t a lot of people around baseball who see the Twins how Tom Pohlad does, especially after Lopez’ injury. Looking at the situation more realistically, it wouldn’t seem prudent for Minnesota to buy in on winning immediately with a roster that is/was one injury away from disaster.
For example, this morning in the latest episode of Ken Rosenthal‘s “Foul Territory” Podcast, the popular MLB insider (who does triple duty for MLB Network, The Athletic and FOX) lamented the Minnesota Twins for gasbagging their fanbase.
Without saying his name, Rosenthal went after Tom Pohlad, who’s been talking an awful lot about winning since he took over… but behind the scenes, has been cutting more payroll just like the family members who came before him.
MUST WATCH: @Ken_Rosenthal calls out Tom Pohlad and the MN Twins for their big talk no walk “winning” strategy this offseason… 👀
“They talk about competing. The Twins keep saying, ‘we want to compete, we want to be back in the AL Central mix,’ and all that. Well, they haven’t… pic.twitter.com/IrhTGHLSUp
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 23, 2026
“The Twins are a team that, of course, deconstructed in a major way last July at the deadline. You remember all the players that they moved, Correa being the headliner, but a number of others as well, including really their entire bullpen.
At that time, they chose not to trade Joe Ryan, not to trade Pablo Lopez [who was hurt]. And the danger when you do that is you’re risking a player or pitcher getting injured or not performing to his previous norms. The Twins, in this case with Pablo Lopez, they were probably going to trade him at the deadline if he was healthy this year.
Joe Ryan might have been a trade candidate and still might be a trade candidate for them at the deadline. T”They talk about competing. The Twins keep saying, ‘we want to compete, we want to be back in the AL Central mix,’ and all that. Well, they haven’t spent enough money to do that and now they have this question of their rotation without one of their big premier starters.”
Ken Rosenthal – Foul Territory (YouTube)
MN Twins fans love Ken Rosenthal
It’s nice to see more pressure being applied from national media members with as big of an audience as Ken Rosenthal, which is why everyone who reads this article should go give the man a follow.
We need to reward national media members who smile down on us like he did today. It’s only right that we amplify his voice to show support (and make sure it reaches the Pohlads).
Not that long ago — after reports came out that the Minnesota Twins were in on starting pitcher Framber Valdez before he ultimately signed with AL Central rival Detroit — I wrote the exact same thing — that it’s time for Tom Pohlad to stop talking and start spending.
Of course, that hasn’t happened. And while this “new era” of Twins ownership and front office construction claims it’s willing to invest in the team, when the time is right, the Pohlad family has not earned the right for us to trust them.
Until something actually gets done, they are living on a Mick Abel prayer. As a diehard Twins fan who operates a website whose summer success will be, in part, dictated by how many games this team wins… I hope Mick or someone else answers the call.
Mentioned in this article: Ken Rosenthal Tom Pohlad
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