Mick Abel Is Progressing Toward A Bullpen Later In the Week

Minneapolis – There’s some encouraging news with Mick Abel. He’s trending in the right direction, recovering from right elbow inflammation that shut him down on April 20.

The Minnesota Twins expect Mick Abel to throw a bullpen later this week. From there, the team will evaluate his next steps and the timetable for his return to the active roster. Abel said he didn’t notice the pain in his arm until two days after he last started on April 14.

He played catch later that day but felt no pain while throwing, which made it an oddity of pain he hadn’t dealt with before in his career.

“I mean, most of it was when I was not doing anything, which was the worst part,” he said. “I was very frustrated and I’d to go out and play catch, get loose, and all of a sudden it was like, ‘Alright, I feel good when I’m pitching, feel good when I’m throwing.’

“But I think the worst part was when I wasn’t doing anything, it would hurt the most. That’s why I felt uncomfortable with going out there. I just didn’t want anything bad to happen and get worse.”

Abel has had a light throwing regimen for three of the last four days, and no pain has flared up from those sessions. He’s glad he told the team about it as soon as he did, before the injury flared into something worse.

“Everybody goes through some stuff throughout the year,” he said. “I know that I’m not the only one that will go through stuff. But yeah, I think when it gets to a point, it’s time to speak up.”

While Abel caught the pain early on after his first start, he’s still upset about how it disrupted his groove from his last two outings before the injury. Abel pitched six innings in the first outing, then seven in the second, combining to get 16 strikeouts, allowing just eight hits, and three walks over 13 scoreless frames.

Things felt like they were building up to Abel’s best stretch in the big leagues. His only two scoreless outings in 2025 were his MLB debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates and his final start against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that traded him to the Twins for Jhoan Duran. But the elbow inflammation put it all on hold.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” he said. “Like, I felt like I was getting a groove. I don’t feel like I’ve gotten out of that groove mentally, but physically, it’s tough.”

If all goes well for Abel in his upcoming bullpen session later this week, he and the team will discuss whether he may need a rehab start before rejoining the Twins. Either way, the bullpen will give a clear indication of when Mick Abel will be able to get back on the mound and pick up where he left off in his last start against the Boston Red Sox on April 14.

“Honestly, not too scared because I knew playing catch felt good,” he said. “I think more so it was like, ‘What is this?’”

Bullpen shuffle

An hour before first pitch Tuesday night, the Twins announced RHP Garrett Acton was placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain, retroactive to April 26. Replacing him in the bullpen is 39-year-old veteran RHP Luis García, who had pitched in six outings with the New York Mets to begin 2026 and had a 7.11 ERA.

To make room for García on the 40-man roster, the Twins designated RHP Zak Kent for assignment. Kent last appeared with the Twins on April 4 and had a 3.38 ERA in eight outings with the St. Paul Saints.