CLEARWATER, Fla. — A large crowd of reporters and fans were on hand to watch Andrew Painter throw his much-anticipated first live batting practice session of spring training on Wednesday. Kyle Schwarber struck out in his first at-bat against Painter but homered to right field in his second on a hanging curveball. Schwarber went nuts.
“It came out of my hand and I was like, ‘Oh boy,'” Painter said.
Still, it was the only blemish on what was a really impressive display.
“It’s shown good signs. It’s shown some bad signs,” Painter said about his curveball. “Today, I threw a couple that were good, a couple that I didn’t like. It’s still a work in progress. Still, I have confidence in it and I’m going to throw it.”
It was all in good fun for Schwarber. Veteran big leaguers on the Phillies are amazed at the 19-year-old’s poise. They can smack talk him like he is one of their own and they know he’s mature enough to laugh it off.
“I told him, I said the way that he’s handling himself in camp. It’s easy to kind of just sit back and take it in, but he’s out, making sure that he’s getting to know everyone,” Schwarber said. “Wanting to get better. He’s asking good questions about pitch shapes and what I see in the at-bat.”
“It didn’t seem like he was going too fast. Demeanor didn’t change,” Rhys Hoskins said. “I think we’ve heard so much about the stuff, but to see that part of his game in action, really for the first time, in front of a full camp, was cool to see.”
Hoskins was not one of the three batters scheduled to face Painter, but he stayed to the side to take it in.
“It was electric from the side. Just the reactions of the hitters in the box tell you all you need to know, ” Hoskins said. “I saw Schwarber after his first at-bat, kind of just mouth ‘Wow.'”
Garrett Stubbs, who caught Painter, said he was hitting 99 to 100 mph with his fastball.
“All of his stuff is big league stuff,” Stubbs said. “Obviously, this is a live [batting practice] on a back field. So to be able to say anything other than that is a stretch, but I think that’s about as good as it gets for a live.”
Stubbs said he didn’t know Painter was 19 until a reporter mentioned his age.
“If that’s worth anything, that’s about the opinion I have on how mature he is, what he knows about himself,” he said. “Obviously, you get into a big league game and the situation changes, but you got to stay the same. As far as I can tell — and once again — this is a back field live first time in camp, I gotta imagine with the way his demeanor is, he’d be pretty calm and collected and stay within himself when he does get out there.”
Manager Rob Thomson doesn’t have an exact date on when Painter’s first Grapefruit League game will be, but he says Painter could pitch sometime next week. He’ll throw one more live session before pitching in a game.
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