The Phialdelphia Phillies’ starting rotation could look different after the All-Star break, or even the week before. Mick Abel has filled in nicely, but his spot in the rotation may be up for grabs.

Abel has made six starts for the Phillies. He started off very strong, but now has a 5.04 ERA in his rookie season. He has been thrust into the rotation with Aaron Nola injured. He gave up five earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of work on Wednesday night. Manager Rob Thomson spoke on whether Abel would make his next scheduled start, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

“We’ll talk about it,” Thomson said when asked whether Abel would make his next start.

The Phillies are expecting Nola back at some point in August. They still need an arm in the rotation, but Andrew Painter is waiting in the minor leagues. However, the Phillies may not want to call him up just yet.

“The Phillies expect Aaron Nola to return in August, with the possibility of him throwing from a mound as early as this weekend,” wrote Gelb. “They have always targeted ‘July-ish’ for top prospect Andrew Painter, but have indicated they would rather wait until after the All-Star break. The Phillies need one more start from the No. 5 slot before the break (Tuesday at San Francisco). They could give it to Abel. They could replace him on the roster with a reliever, go with a bigger bullpen until the break, and do a bullpen game in San Francisco. Or they could summon another starter. Maybe the Painter plans change. Probably not.”

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Abel has hit a point in his young career where he needs to make adjustments. It’s nothing the Phillies need to worry about long-term, but they may need to option him to iron things out. Even if Painter is called up, when Nola returns, he will also not have a spot in the rotation. The decision becomes whether the Phillies want Abel to figure things out as a big leaguer or in Triple-A.

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