Thursday was a big day for the Philadelphia Phillies organization and, specifically, its top prospect Andrew Painter. The strapping right-hander made his first career start in Triple-A and dazzled against the very first batter he faced, who just happened to be the consensus top prospect in baseball, Roman Anthony.
Suiting up for the first place Lehigh Valley IronPigs, it was uncharted territory for Painter, who had never made a start above Double-A. He didn't seem fazed, however, making quick work of Anthony, the Boston Red Sox's No. 1 prospect, in a four-pitch at-bat.
Painter began the at-bat by dotting a 96.7 mph four-seam fastball at the bottom of the zone before getting Anthony to swing over a low cutter. He missed with another fastball before breaking out his nasty curveball, which Anthony chased for the strikeout.
It wasn't just Anthony who looked overmatched by Painter's breaking pitch. The Phillies' No. 1 prospect registered five strikeouts on the night — all with the curveball!
Phillies No. 1 prospect Andrew Painter shows off versatile arsenal in Triple-A debut
With a pitching arsenal that includes a fastball that touched 98.3 mph and sat 96.3 mph in this outing, the Worcester Red Sox hitters couldn't sit on his 82.5 mph breaking ball. Even if they were waiting for the curve, the ridiculous movement negated any chance of making contact.
Painter was on a strict four-inning or 60-65 pitch limit. He made it through three innings, using up his 60 pitches thanks to a bases-loaded jam in the third. He escaped the mess and finished with the five strikeouts, three walks and just one hit in his shutout effort that led to an eventual 3-1 IronPigs win. The 2021 first-round pick threw 34 of his 60 pitches for strikes, generating eight whiffs on 22 swings.
"I wanted to go out there and throw a lot of strikes," Painter said after the game, per MLB.com's Michael Avallone. "I did a good job for eight outs, and then kinda lost it a little bit, but adversity is something you always want to work yourself out of. It’s good to get in those situations. ... There’s no one to come to save you. It’s just you against the hitter and you’ve got to get yourself out of it."
The Phillies announced the move to Triple-A last week, after Painter had made four starts with Single-A Clearwater. They're bringing Painter along slowly as he works back from his 2023 Tommy John surgery, trying to save innings for when he makes his inevitable MLB debut this summer. They want to save the bulk of his innings for down the stretch to help the team make a run into and through the postseason.
Painter now has an 0-2 record, with a 3.14 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and four walks in 14 1/3 innings over his five abbreviated starts this season.
Phillies fans can expect to see Painter in Philadelphia sometime in July. The team has indicated that's the rough timeline for when they want to bring him up. For now, though, he'll work on his craft an hour and a half north in Allentown.