When MLB Pipeline recently released their list of the best prospects in baseball from ages 16-25, most Philadelphia Phillies fans would be fairly confident that their top pitching prospect Andrew Painter would win out in his age group. After all, despite missing almost two years due to Tommy John surgery, he remained among the top 30 MLB Pipeline prospects over the past few seasons.
Currently at No. 16 overall, Painter is only two spots behind Bubba Chandler of the Pittsburgh Pirates and five spots behind Nolan McLean of the New York Mets for the top pitching prospect in all of baseball.
However, the 22-year-old Painter's tough 2025 minor league campaign with the Phillies enabled a Pennsylvania native and Toronto Blue Jays standout to surpass him as the best MLB prospect in their age group. That standout is none other than surprising Blue Jays playoff hero Trey Yesavage.
Phillies’ Andrew Painter takes a backseat to Pottstown's own Trey Yesavage
A product of Pottstown, Yesavage traversed the entire minor league system in 2025, going from Single-A all the way to Triple-A in a span of months, ultimately finding himself up with the Blue Jays big league club by September. In doing so, he impressed enough to earn a starting role for Toronto during the postseason.
From there, he set various playoff records, including the most strikeouts by a rookie in a postseason game (12) and the only pitcher ever to do so without giving up a walk.
In the end, Yesavage compiled an impressive 5-1 record with a 3.12 ERA and 0.97 WHIP, with 160 strikeouts in just 98 innings in the minors this season. He followed that up with a solid 3-1 record, 3.58 ERA, and 1.05 WHIP with 39 strikeouts in just 27 2/3 innings in the playoffs to cap off a phenomenal 2025 campaign.
As for Painter, he put together a less-than-stellar minor league season in which some of his struggles led to a 5-8 record with a 5.26 ERA and 1.49 WHIP, with 123 strikeouts in 118 innings over 26 starts. However, he did show a glimpse of his elite potential during a stretch from the beginning of May to the end of June where he allowed only two earned runs or less while striking out five or more batters in seven of his nine appearances.
With Painter having a legitimate shot at cracking the Phillies roster in the 2026 MLB season, he will have the opportunity to recapture the status of being the best 22-year-old (or by then, it will be the best 23-year-old) in all of baseball. But he will have his work cut out for him as Yesavage looks to have a leg up already in the Blue Jays rotation heading into 2026. Nevertheless, the baseball world can start preparing for some sheer excitement led by the arrivals of these elite young pitching talents.