Andrew Painter’s long-awaited debut offers Phillies a glimpse of the future

Overall, the Philadelphia Phillies' starting pitching was a bright spot for the club in the 2024 season. The lone disappointment was that the fifth starter spot was a carousel of pitchers who struggled to find their groove.

Luckily that could change for the club as they enter the 2025 campaign. Andrew Painter made his first appearance since March of 2023. The Phillies' No. 2 prospect (MLB Pipeline No. 32) has been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery since undergoing the procedure in July 2023. He made his first appearance in the Arizona Fall League on Saturday and the results were encouraging.

Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter dialed it up in his long-awaited debut, offering a glimpse of the future

Painter's outing was impressive despite allowing two earned runs in two innings. His arm looked alive as he hit 100 mph on three separate occasions in his first inning during Saturday's appearance, per Phillies Nation's Grace Del Pizzo. The right-hander also struck out two hitters, including MLB Pipeline's No. 35 ranked prospect Bryce Eldridge.

The Phillies' prospect was economical and needed 29 pitches to complete his two innings of work. Some rust was to be expected, but the results are not as important as Painter's health.

After the game, Painter talked about his first professional outing in over a year. Jesse Borek of MLB.com covered the game and wrote about Painter's thoughts.

“I thought obviously the results weren't exactly what I wanted, but arm's healthy and that was the biggest takeaway,” Painter said, per Borek. “Everything felt like it was coming out good, like my old self.”

Any time a highly touted prospect undergoes a major procedure, there is some risk that they may not come back and be the same player. The fact that Painter felt good after the outing and stated that his pitches were where he wanted them to be is a good sign.

The Phillies' 2021 first-round pick is not taking his rehab for granted. Painter also spoke about his appreciation for the game after missing so much time.

“Baseball's been my thing growing up and it's been something I've loved,” Painter said, per Borek. “Getting that taken away from me, I think it just made me appreciate the game so much more. I just really look forward to any time I get to be out here on the field and just go to the field every day.”

It seems like Painter is in a good spot physically and mentally. He should be an option to pitch for the Phillies in 2025, according to Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who earlier this week spoke about his prospect's potential role next season.

“I do think he’ll be pitching at the big league level at some point in ‘25,” Dombrowski said, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. “We’re going to have to figure out how we get him to pitch next year, because he’ll still be limited with the number of innings he can pitch.

"I don’t know the exact number of innings at this point. We haven’t discussed that, but he’s not going to be able to go out there like a big league starter and pitch every five or six days and pitch a whole season and have 180 innings. He’s going to be limited, much more than that."

The Phillies will be smart with their highly coveted prospect after a major surgery. He has been rehabbing since late June and has been making substantial progress. The Phillies and Painter are both happy with where he is at this point in his recovery.

Painter will continue to ramp it up through the Arizona Fall League. It is a positive sign that he is facing talented, young hitters so that he can get back in game shape prior to spring training in February. His long-awaited debut is finally in sight and that is exciting news for the organization and Phillies fans.

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