The Philadelphia Phillies have won three straight series to start the 2025 season. One of the main reasons for the early success has been the team's starting pitching. Entering action on Tuesday, Phillies' starters ranked first in MLB in K/9, first in xFIP, second in WHIP and sixth in ERA. The rotation has also surrendered the third-lowest BB/9 in the league.
An already strong part of the team will get an added boost later this season. According to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, top pitching prospect Andrew Painter is set to begin his rehab program this coming Friday.
While it will still be some time before the highly anticipated prospect makes his Major League debut, the thought of him joining a star-studded rotation like the one currently assembled in Philadelphia is tantalizing.
Andrew Painter's journey to MLB debut with Phillies begins this week
Prior to Sunday's rubber match against the Los Angeles Dodgers, manager Rob Thomson spoke to reporters and confirmed that Painter will begin his 2025 season in Single-A Clearwater as he will begin a rehab assignment at the end of the week.
Painter pitched in the Arizona Fall League last year, but has not thrown a pitch with the Phillies or any minor league affiliate since March of 2023 when he sprained the UCL in his right elbow in his first spring training start. After attempting to rehab his way through the injury, the team later recommended that he undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament.
The organization's No. 1 prospect has been throwing at the Carpenter Complex at the team's spring training site since late February. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Lochlahn March, Painter threw 33 pitches across two innings of live batting practice on April 4. He's now ready to appear in some game action.
Andrew Painter threw 33 pitches across two innings of live BP today. “They said he pitched very well,” Rob Thomson said. “Velocity was excellent. Threw a lot of strikes with his offspeed pitches.”
— Lochlahn March (@lochlahn) April 4, 2025
The Phillies will decide next steps in the next couple days.
It is likely that he will throw two innings or so once a week for the beginning of the program to build up his arm strength. Currently, the projection is that the 2021 first-round pick will be ready to see Major League time by the summer.
Andrew Painter's arrival in big leagues is highly anticipated
Painter's arrival is something that both the organization and Phillies fans have been waiting on for some time. Prior to his UCL injury, the right-hander had a legitimate shot at making the team in 2023. After what will be almost two years of recovery and rehab, it seems a midsummer debut could be on the horizon.
The call-up of the hard-throwing prospect has been so highly anticipated because the Phillies really haven't had a pitching prospect of this caliber pan out since Cole Hamels. Hamels made his debut in 2006, so it has been almost two decades since a prospect of this caliber has been on the verge of being a difference-maker with the team.
Since Hamels, the Phillies have had other highly touted pitching prospects who either did not reach their expected potential or have been traded away, in some cases both occurred. Kyle Drabek was labelled as "untouchable" before being sent to Toronto to acquire Roy Halladay. Sixto Sánchez was another top pitching prospect in the organization who fizzled out after being traded away for J.T. Realmuto.
Even recently, the Phillies have had some highly-ranked pitching prospects drop off after some down years and command issues. Mick Abel and Griff McGarry were both ranked in the organization's top five prospects in recent years, but both have struggled to hold that status or show signs of being imminently ready for a shot at the big leagues.
Many people around baseball have claimed that Painter is about as good of a prospect that they have ever seen, which surely inspires confidence in the young pitcher and adds to the excitement of a call-up.
Despite the anticipation, the Phillies don't need to rush their coveted prospect back, given the current status of the big-league rotation. It's wise to let Painter build up his arm strength and be fully ready to go before he makes the jump to a Major League mound. Barring anything unforeseen, the long-awaited debut for the 21 (soon to be 22)-year-old could be just mere months away,