Phillies Highly Anticipated Pitching Prospect Closer to Next Stage of Return

The Philadelphia Phillies have had a play for their top pitching prospect this season and they don’t plan to deviate from it.

That said, Andrew Painter does need to meet some benchmarks before he can ultimately make his highly anticipated Major League debut.

He may have cleared another one on Friday.

Per Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Painter threw 33 pitches in two innings of live batting practice on Friday at Citizens Bank Park before the Phillies played the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Manager Rob Thomson was happy with what he saw.

“Velocity was excellent,” he said. “Threw a lot of strikes with his off-speed pitches.”

What’s next is unclear. MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported that a minor league assignment could start “soon” for Painter. What “soon” means is unclear.

But the plan for Painter has always been to begin the season in the minor leagues and manage his workload as he stretches himself out to be a full starter again. Philadelphia’s hope is that Painter will be able to become a part of the staff in the second half of the season.

That would be terrific news for the organization and for Painter.

Painter was poised to join the rotation in 2023 after he was taken in the first round of the 2021 MLB draft out of Calvary Christian in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

He was the organization’s No. 1 prospect, and he had already conquered Double-A Reading, where he was 6-2 with a 1.56 ERA in 22 starts in 2022. He also struck out 155 in 103 innings.

But he developed an arm issue in spring training of 2023, and it eventually required Tommy John surgery, which erased his entire 2023 and 2024 seasons. He wasn’t ready to pitch until after the season and Philadelphia assigned him to the Arizona Fall League so he could get some work.

There, he was named the AFL pitcher of the year after he pitched 15.2 innings and finished with a 2.30 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and a .189 batting average against. He also struck out 18 and walked four while posting a 31 percent miss rate.

Painter has plenty of promise in that right arm. He’s only 21 years old and the Phillies envision him as the ace of the future. That’s why they intend to take things slow — and why days like Friday show so much promise.