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The odds of Abel, who remains limited to playing catch for now, returning before the regular season wraps up appear virtually non-existent as he continues his recovery from arthroscopic elbow surgery back in early July. The encouraging news is that he’s resumed throwing and should have a relatively normal offseason. He was showing some extremely encouraging signs before elbow issues sent him to the injured list back in late April.
Nothing has changed in the prognosis for Abel, who is still without a timeline to return from his elbow injury. This was done as a procedural move to clear a spot on the team’s 40-man roster for the addition of Tommy Nance from the Blue Jays on Friday.
Abel underwent a bone shaving, per Abel, and is optimistic that he can return at some point this year. Abel doesn’t necessarily need to be kept in fantasy leagues if you’re in an IL crunch, but it sounds like there’s a real chance he returns.
Abel remains without a definitive return timetable but it sounds like there’s a chance he makes it back before the end of the season. There should be an update on his next steps and timeline in the coming weeks.
It’s a significant hit to Minnesota’s rotation as Abel will likely be sidelined until the later stages of the second half after Dr. Keith Meister recommended surgery following his latest setback. The 24-year-old has been out since mid-April with elbow inflammation. A more definitive timetable should emerge after the procedure, but fantasy managers shouldn’t expect him back anytime soon.
It’s a massive relief for the Twins as Abel has been diagnosed with elbow inflammation. The 24-year-old former pitching prospect was on the cusp of returning to Minnesota’s rotation before suffering a setback last week. He’s been on the shelf since mid-April. There is no timetable for his return but it sounds like he managed to avoid serious injury and isn’t facing the possibility of elbow surgery at this juncture.
He’s set for an MRI. Abel, out since mid-April with elbow inflammation, was expected to rejoin the Twins rotation after allowing one earned run over five innings for Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday.
Abel threw 44 of 61 pitches for strikes in his second rehab start at the Triple-A level. The 24-year-old has looked outstanding in those outings and figures to only need one additional tune-up before returning to Minnesota’s rotation. He’s worth stashing in any fantasy leagues where he wound up hitting the waiver wire.
Abel’s stuff looked outstanding during the 47-pitch rehab outing, averaging 96.3 mph on his fastball and topped out at 97.9 mph. The 24-year-old figures to require at least one additional tune-up to build up his pitch count and stamina before rejoining Minnesota’s rotation. He’s been on the shelf with elbow inflammation since late April. He should be stashed in all fantasy leagues based on his early-season results, which include a strong 3.98 ERA and 23/10 K/BB ratio across 20 1/3 innings.
Abel is aiming for roughly 50 pitches over three innings during his first rehab outing. The 24-year-old starter has been on the shelf with elbow inflammation since April 20. There’s a strong possibility he’ll need an additional outing to continue building up his pitch count and stamina before rejoining Minnesota’s rotation later this month.
The 24-year-old has been sidelined since April 20th with elbow inflammation, but he described his outing on Thursday as “free and easy” and claims his body feels great. While there is no timeline for his return, it seems like he could begin a rehab assignment next week and potentially return to the Twins’ rotation before the end of June.
Abel has finally progressed to facing hitters again after hitting the injured list with elbow inflammation back on April 20. The 24-year-old underwent an MRI at the time which didn’t reveal any structural damage. He’ll require a handful of rehab starts before he’s ready to rejoin Minnesota’s rotation, but he’s getting closer. There’s a chance he’s back by late June or early July based on his present trajectory.
Abel had originally gone on the injured list with elbow inflammation, so the fact that he’s now feeling tricep soreness is not the best news. The Twins will evaluate him next Tuesday, and we’ll have a better sense of when/if he may return.
Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters all signs have been positive after Abel hit the injured list with elbow inflammation last week. All indications are that the issue is believed to be minor and the fact that he’s resumed throwing already is extremely encouraging. It won’t be a minimum stay on the injured list, but fantasy manager should anticipate Abel making it back to Minnesota’s rotation mix at some point in the next couple weeks.
It’s an extremely encouraging report after Abel unexpectedly hit the injured list earlier on Monday. The 24-year-old appeared to be in the early stages of a breakout campaign, reeling off 13 scoreless frames with a 16/3 K/BB ratio across 13 innings over his past two starts. He’s likely to face a multi-week absence, even in a best-case scenario, but it doesn’t sound like preliminary imaging turned up any structural damage that could’ve led to surgery. It’ll likely be intriguing prospect Connor Prielipp taking his spot in Minnesota’s rotation.
That’s a huge bummer. Abel had thrown 13 shutout innings over his last two starts and seemed to be emerging as a key cog in the Twins’ rotation. There’s no word yet on how long he will be out, but this now makes the news of Kendry Rojas coming up a bit more understandable. It seems like the left-hander may get the chance to pitch bulk innings on Tuesday, which would have been Abel’s spot in the rotation. However, Connor Prielipp could also be given a chance to fill in for Abel since he’s in New York on the taxi squad. Prielipp is a bit more exciting from a fantasy standpoint, so if he is given the start on Tuesday, he could be worth a waiver add, even if you just stash him on your bench for the first start.
Abel has turned in consecutive scoreless outings after giving up nine runs in 7 1/3 innings over his first two starts. He allowed nine hard-hit balls tonight, but seven of those were grounders and they produced a total of three singles. He also walked none after coming into the game with 10 bases on balls in 13 1/3 innings. Abel doesn’t seem trustworthy just yet, but the upside is obviously there. He’s 1-2 with a 3.98 ERA, and he’s slated to take on the Mets next.
Unfortunately the bullpen quickly blew the 1-0 lead he left with, leaving Abel with a no-decision. He allowed four hits, walked three, and averaged 94.9 mph with the fastball. When the secondaries play as well as Abel’s did today -- he generated six whiffs on 31 swings against non-fastballs -- his fastball is hard enough to hit that it ties together well. Now carrying a 6.08 ERA through two starts, Abel is probably a fringe start against the Red Sox next week.
Abel also struck out three and walked three while throwing 63 percent of his pitches for strikes. This was Abel’s first start of the season after he pitched in long relief in his first appearance. His four-seam fastball was great in this one. He has elite extension and vertical movement, which helps offset his mediocre velocity. The pitch had a 16 percent swinging strike rate and 31 percent CSW. The issue for Abel is that none of his other offerings helped much. He got some whiffs on his sweeper, but only threw five of them in total. Until those secondaries find some consistency, it’s going to be hard to trust Abel in most fantasy leagues, but there is a clear foundation for success here. We might take a chance on him next week against the Tigers if you’re in deeper formats.
Abel struck out four batters on the day, but he also issued four walks. Rather than starting on Monday which was the expectation, the Twins turned to Abel to piggyback Bailey Ober in this one, coming on to start the fifth inning. It didn’t work out well. He gave up a run on an RBI double in the sixth inning, then the O’s piled on with three more in the seventh to take control of the game. On the plus side, he got 14 whiffs on 81 pitches on the afternoon, posting a CSW of 30 percent. He’ll likely make his first start at some point next weekend against the Rays now.
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