Abel (elbow) struck out five and permitted two hits and no walks over three scoreless frames in his first rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul on Wednesday.
Abel averaged 96.3 mph with his four-seamer, which is up 1.5 mph from his season average. The right-hander got his pitch count to 47, so he will need at least a couple more rehab outings before returning from the 15-day injured list and rejoining the Minnesota rotation.