The Philadelphia Phillies have big plans for top pitching prospect Andrew Painter this season. After spending much of the last two year's recovering from Tommy John surgery, the hard-tossing 22-year-old got back on the mound for the first time in the Arizona Fall League last year and earned the AFL Pitcher of the Year Award after dominating hitters with a 2.30 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings.
Now fully healthy, Painter is expected to join the Phillies rotation some time after the All-Star break.
While Painter certainly put on a show while pitching in the AFL last fall, the Phillies opted to be cautious with the recently ranked MLB No. 8 prospect during spring training. Painter didn't log a single inning during exhibition play. But the Phillies couldn't keep the bubble wrap on him forever, and Painter recently found his way back to the mound to make his first professional start since 2022.
Phillies No. 1 prospect Andrew Painter's debut went better than his line would suggest
Beginning his first minor league season in over two years with a start for the Single-A Clearwater Threshers, Painter's performance was a bit of a mixed bag during his 1 1/3 innings of work. Taking the mound with a strict 36 pitch limit, Painter's eye-opening velocity was on full display, with his fastball reaching triple digits on the radar gun in the first inning.
After allowing a single to Daytona Beach leadoff hitter Luis Leones, Painter earned swinging strikeouts of the next two hitters, before getting Carter Graham to ground out on a 92.6 mph cutter to end the inning.
Andrew Painter touches 💯 mph three times and notches three strikeouts in his 2025 debut!
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 11, 2025
MLB's No. 7 prospect (@Phillies) logs whiffs on nine of 17 swings for the Single-A @Threshers. pic.twitter.com/h00rN0HOqI
After throwing 24 pitches in his opening frame, Painter's pitch count became a factor in the second inning. Following a leadoff single off the bat of Daytona designated hitter Ryan McCrystal, Painter needed only four pitches to get Luis Reyes to strike out swinging. But after quickly getting ahead of the next hitter, Jacob Friend, with two quick strikes, Painter lost command of his next four pitches and allowed his only walk of the day.
Faced with one out and runners on first and second, Painter's day was through after tossing 37 pitches, allowing two hits and a walk, notching three strikeouts, and leaving the game holding a 1-0 lead. Painter found himself the recipient of a loss after Thresher's left-handed reliever Eric Ritchie allowed a pair of singles in quick succession that allowed those two inherited runs to score, leaving Painter with a 13.50 ERA and the loss.
I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE LINE LOOK AT THE STUFF pic.twitter.com/6PGTBH9Smz
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) April 12, 2025
The Phillies front office probably didn't lose sleep over Painter's stat line from his first rehab start. Obviously, his health comes first, but with his four-seam fastball already in mid-season form, and his cutter and slider keeping hitters off balance, Friday night's performance is certainly something he can build upon to take into his next start.
With Painter likely to make starts against more advanced minor league hitters in the near future, it will be interesting to see if the talented right-hander can stay on track to make his MLB debut later this summer. Phillies manager Rob Thomson has already hinted at using a six-man rotation during the second half of the season, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman, so Painter could become a major contributor down the stretch this year.