Right-handed Phillies, jock prospect Andrew Painter he has a sensitive right elbow and is undergoing some tests, manager Rob Thompson told reporters.Scott Lauber) Friday. MRI is presumably involved and there will probably be updates on Saturday. For now, it’s a waiting game for Painter, the Phillies, and everyone else.
Painter is one of the most promising baseball players (No. 14 overall), one of the best filing prospects (No. 3) and main prospect for the Phillies. CBS Sports prospects expert R.J. Anderson wrote about Painter the following spring:
Painter, a 6-foot-7 right-hander, was drafted by the Phillies in the first round in 2021. Since then, he’s moved quickly through the system, finishing last season with five Double-A starts. Overall, he had a 1.56 ERA and a 6.20 strike-to-walk ratio in 103 innings. Painter has a wide arsenal that includes an over-90s fastball that can break the 100 mph mark, two breakers and a switch. He also showed good control, passing about two batters in nine last season, including just two in 28 frames in Double-A. Painter is due to make his major league debut in 2023, possibly earlier than expected, and could give the National League champions another big starting pitcher.
In his five Double-A starts in 2022, Painter had a 2.54 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and 37 strikeouts against two walks in 28 1/3 innings. Considering he’s only 19 years old and only five starts above the Class A, it’s unlikely that Painter was going to leave the Phillies camp anyway. The first months of the season certainly should have been spent gaining more experience against top-level minor leaguers while the Phillies kept an eye on his pitches.
However, you never know. There is always a chance that teams will surprise us and become aggressive with talented youth. However, any failure with the elbow will surely deprive you of this chance.
Even without Painter, the Phillies have a strong rotation to start the season with Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, Taijuan Walker, and then someone like Bailey Falter in fifth place. If Painter’s elbow is up in the near future and he shows improvement in the early months of the regular season, he could be called up to take that fifth place for being potentially one of the best rotations in baseball.
Source: www.cbssports.com
