Philadelphia Phillies prospect Andrew Painter, one of the most highly regarded pitching prospects in baseball, will soon make his first regular-season start since 2022.
The right-hander, who turns 22 on April 10, will start Friday for Low-A Clearwater, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters, including The Athletic, Sunday. Painter underwent Tommy John surgery in July of 2023 and has been recovering since. He was able to pitch in the Arizona Fall League this past offseason, and he fared exceptionally well in six starts for the Glendale team. That set the stage for Painter’s return to regular-season action, although he’ll likely be used very conservatively at the outset. The team is still targeting a summer debut, though the next few months will obviously be key.
Coming into the 2025 season, CBS Sports ranked Painter as the No. 14 prospect in all of baseball. Here’s part of R.J. Anderson’s write-up:
“Painter returned to the mound during the Arizona Fall League after being sidelined for the past two seasons by Tommy John surgery. He demonstrated his health, touching 99 mph while generating plenty of swinging strikes with both his curveball and slider. Painter seemed certain to make his debut in 2023. Now, the Phillies may choose to take things a little slower with him on account of his presumed workload limitations. Either way, a healthy Painter continues to profile as a top prospect.”
A former No. 13 overall draft pick out of Calvary Christian Academy in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Painter across parts of two minor-league seasons has pitched to a 1.48 ERA with 167 strikeouts and 15 unintentional walks in 109 ⅔ innings. Over that span, he’s permitted just five home runs. In 2022, Painter reached Double-A as a 19-year-old.
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