After another tough outing in Triple-A, it appears that Philadelphia Phillies No. 1 MLB Pipeline prospect Andrew Painter will have to wait even longer to receive a highly anticipated promotion to the major leagues .
Painter’s struggles continued on Wednesday for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs as the right-hander gave up seven runs (six earned) and three walks in 5 1/3 innings of work. After an up and down start to the game, in which he allowed three runs in the first four frames, things started to really unravel for Painter in the sixth when the Toledo Mud Hens put up four additional runs.
Despite Painter’s rough outing, the IronPigs managed to squeak out a 9-8 win over the Mud Hens with a walk off single from Payton Henry in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Phillies fans can give up on hopes of seeing Andrew Painter make his MLB debut this year
It has not been the season that fans expected from Painter as he now holds a 4-7 record and a 5.45 ERA in 24 outings between Clearwater and Lehigh Valley.
This pales in comparison to his previous minor league season in 2022, when he pitched to a 1.56 ERA in 103 2/3 innings of work. While the 22-year-old is coming back from Tommy John surgery (which kept him out for two years), he was seen as a possible rotation piece for the Phillies as they look to make another deep postseason run. This has not come to fruition, even as the team’s depth has been tested with injuries and struggles.
Despite his poor performance in 2025, it is clear that the Phillies organization is still very confident in Painter as they were not willing to part with him under any circumstances at this year’s trade deadline. He is still held in very high regard across Major League Baseball as he ranks No. 10 on MLB Pipeline’s midseason Top 100 prospects list that was published last month.
Painter has plenty of time and opportunities to develop into the pitcher the Phillies expected him to be when they took him 13th overall back in 2021. With Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola getting up there in age and the futures of Ranger Suárez and Taijuan Walker in question, Painter should be in consideration for a role with the big league club as early as next season (barring a late season surprise).