The Philadelphia Phillies are one step closer to Andrew Painter's major league debut, as the 22-year-old right-hander toed the rubber in Triple-A for the first time in his young career on Thursday after a long journey back from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in June 2023.
Luckily for him, he'll be working side-by-side with a player who's "an extension of the coaching staff," according to IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras, per On Pattison's Anthony SanFilippo.
Garrett Stubbs catching Andrew Painter should prove to be invaluable
Painter's battery mate on Thursday was none other than former Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, who carries six seasons and 1,229 1/3 innings of MLB experience with him, in addition to experience catching Cy Young candidates like Gerrit Cole and Zack Wheeler. As a result, Stubbs was greeted by a herd of reporters in the dugout pregame to talk about MLB's top pitching prospect.
"I think everyone's excited [about Painter]... everyone knows how good he is, how could he can be, so I'm excited for him mostly," Stubbs told the media pregame. "He's had a lot to overcome his first couple years in pro baseball and to get to this point is tough. I haven't had to go through it but I know a lot of guys that have so to get to the point where he's getting to pitch in a real game, especially at this level, is awesome."
The Phillies' No. 1 and MLB's No. 5 overall prospect showed why he's one of the most talked about prospects throughout his outing, as he struck out five of the first eight batters he faced, including a four-pitch strikeout of MLB's No. 1 overall prospect Roman Anthony to open the game. Entering the game, Painter had a pitch limit of 60–65 pitches, so his day was done after three shutout innings, where he allowed just one hit but three walks with five strikeouts and threw 34 of his 60 pitches for strikes.
Stubbs helped Painter prepare for adversity during his Triple-A debut
Additionally, Painter was able to showcase his calm demeanor in the third, as three consecutive two-out walks loaded the bases before he got Blake Sabol to pop up on a 3-2 pitch to escape the jam unharmed, pairing perfectly with the advice he received from the MLB veteran backstop pregame, according to Phillies Nation's Ty Daubert.
"Before the game, I told him 'Look, there's going to be at least one time during this game where something doesn't go the way that we want it to," Stubbs said, per Daubert. "Something is going to happen and you're going to have to be a man and be a competitor and figure your way out of it."
That calm demeanor showed up again in the postgame interview, as Painter downplayed a question about his nerves.
"I felt pretty good," Painter said. "Same stuff out there, just a different environment, different hitters. Mound's still the same distance, so it was me and Stubby tonight and it's what I look to do every start."
His catcher disagreed.
"Yeah, he's a liar," Stubbs joked to the media postgame. "I think he was a little bit nervous. Everything looked really good. Threw all of his pitches for strikes. Obviously got away from him a little bit in that third inning. I'm sure he was a little bit tired; first time, that much adrenaline, so everything looked good. It was fun."
It's only a matter of time until Painter makes his MLB debut with the Phillies giving him a rough timeline of July as they hope to preserve his innings for another potential postseason run. But between his ability to keep things light and the knowledge that he has, there's arguably nobody better to learn from than Garrett Stubbs.