Andrew Painter’s professional baseball career is off to a riveting start. Including the six scoreless innings he threw last season in rookie ball, Painter has yet to allow an earned run in 18 innings pitched.
His outing on Saturday against the Tampa Tarpons might be the most impressive one we’ll hear about all season long from the Phillies minor league system. He struck out 14 hitters through five shutout innings.
Following a first-inning double to the Tarpons’ No. 2 hitter Antonio Gomez and a flyout against the next batter Madison Santos, Painter, 19, struck out 13 consecutive batters. He was lifted from the game after five innings and 70 pitches. Malik Binns and Tommy McCollum picked up where Painter left off, combining to strikeout eight batters through four innings to secure a shutout for the Threshers.
Video of Painter’s outing is unavailable for now, but the Statcast data provides some context on just how dominant the 13th overall pick from 2021 was on Saturday. He averaged 97.4 mph on his fastball and maxed out at 99.8. Tampa hitters swung and missed against Painter 20 times.
Overall, Painter has struck out 30 batters in 12 innings through three starts for Single-A Clearwater.
Mick Abel, Phillies Nation’s No. 1 Phillies prospect, also took the mound on Saturday. He struck out nine batters over five innings against the Asheville Tourists in Lakewood.
It’s safe to say Saturday was a good day for the two best pitchers in the Phillies farm system.