Andrew Painter has continued to impress in his return to the mound, throwing three shutout innings in his third start back from Tommy John surgery.
The former first-round pick struck out three and allowed just one hit for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League on Thursday at Salt River Fields. He lowered his ERA in the AFL to 3.86 ERA in seven total innings.
Painter, the top pitching prospect in the Phillies organization, missed the entire 2023 and 2024 regular seasons after injuring his throwing elbow last spring. The right-hander appeared to have a real shot to crack the Phillies’ rotation out of camp in 2023 as a teenager, but his ascension through Philadelphia’s system had to be put on a major hold due to his surgery.
Now 21 years old, Painter is still young and full of potential. The No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 draft, he rose to Double-A the next year in his first full season, posting a 1.56 ERA across three levels. He showed a true power arsenal that could help him turn into a top-of-the-rotation starter down the line.
Back in action in the AFL, Painter has taken the first step on his way to pitching again in the regular season and eventually making his major-league debut. He’s displayed his high-velocity fastball and flashed a reworked slider, according to MLB.com’s Sam Dykstra. It’s a positive sign for his recovery and development.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated that Painter will be on a strict workload in the AFL in his end-of-season press conference earlier this month. The team will then have to make a plan heading into the 2025 season on how to use the young righty. The Phillies could use Painter’s services in their rotation, but he’ll surely have a limited innings total as he returns from his surgery. They’ll need to find a way to make all the pieces fit together with their starting pitching.
Until then, it’s important for Painter to continue to get more experience as a pitcher and prepare for next season. He’s off to an encouraging start in his work this fall.
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