Phillies Mailbag: Abel's Debut, Suárez, Schwarber to Stay?

We are back once again with the 97.3 ESPN Phillies Mailbag. It's been an eventful week in Phillies land. We take your questions and talk about them on The Sports Bash with Mike Gill every Tuesday afternoon. Text your questions to 609-403-0973.

Why send MIck Abel down, particularly after the Jose Alvarado suspension?
~Gerry

The Phillies sure got a remarkable performance from rookie Mick Abel in his Major League debut. He threw six innings, striking out nine. The nine strikeouts were good enough to tie the Phillies record for a pitcher in his debut.

But the Phillies planned to bring Abel up for just one and only one start. To put this into context: The decision to pitch Abel was made even after the Phillies knew about Jose Alvarado's failed test. Reports placed the Phillies finding out about a failed test as far back as the series in Tampa, which took place May 7-9.

The Phillies are indeed down Aaron Nola for now, too. Taijuan Walker is taking Nola's spot in the rotation.

I think the Phillies don't want to rock the boat just yet. I think they want to leave things as they are, even though Andrew Painter is set to join the Major League club at some point.

It's also possible that the game against the Pirates - one of the weaker lineups in the league - was a showcase for a potential trade.

Abel, ranked the number 8 Phillies prospect on MLB Pipeline, is a strong contender to be dealt at the trade dealine. If the Phillies wish to avoid trading Justin Crawford, AIdan Miller, and Painter, he might be the next best option.

With Mick Abel’s strong performance today and Andrew Painter waiting, could we see Ranger Suárez take that closers spot?
~Dave

In last week's mailbag, unware of the Jose Alvarado suspension, this question was raised. Ranger Suárez was indeed my pick to make the move, if someone had to, but that was assuming that Aaron Nola was healthy and Taijuan Walker was already in the bullpen. In light of the Alvarado news, I would consider this option, but just not yet.

I think in some respects, this should be left to play out a little bit more. The Phillies used Matt Strahm in what would have been the Alvarado spot on Sunday, to success. Tanner Banks has generally outperformed what I might have expected of him him.

The right side actually worries me a little more; the Phillies used Carlos Hernandez in a higher-leverage spot Monday night (a three-run lead) and Orion Kerkering is rather unpredictable of late.

We learned yesterday that the Phillies checked in on forever reliever David Robertson.

So I think at this point, with Nola on the shelf and with Painter still another month or more out, and with all

Do you think the Phillies should extend Kyle Schwarber now?
~Glenn

Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber hit his 300th home run last night. That's quite a milestone for the Phillies slugger. This comes after his 2024 season was arguably his best, and as he is off to a tremendous start in 2025. I would indeed be sure to see if he would re-sign with the Phillies.

At age 32, Schwarber is on the back-end of a traditional major league career. But as he has settled into a mostly-designated hitter role, he seems to be more locked in than ever. I think that if the designated hitter role is his, he can continue to be productive.

The real question is, how long could the Phillies commit to Schwarber a free agent-to-be, at this age?

What is huritng the Phillies here are a couple factors. The first is that they are in the midst of a 13-year contract with Bryce Harper and an 11-year deal with Trea Turner. There will therefore be a couple of other late-30s players who might need the designated hitter slot.

Further, if the Phillies re-sign J.T. Realmuto, will he need the designated hitter spot more often? There are few catching options.

That said, if the Phillies could get Schwarber to sign for three years, I think that his bat would be better than Realmuto's non-catching days and that Harper and Turner might not be ready for a designated hitter role yet.

Will he want more than three years? That's where this gets difficult. I have not heard yet what the Schwarber camp is looking for.