Fans are going to love the Phillies’ latest move from Andrew Painter

The Philadelphia PhilliesProspectus no. 2 is going to the big league spring training for the first time in his career.

The football club announced that Andrew Painter is one of 23 non-roster invitees, according to Mark Feinsand. However, the Phillies will certainly be wary of his workload after missing most of 2023 and the entire 2024 season. after Tommy John surgery. Payner was drafted by Philadelphia in the first round (13th overall) of the 2021 draft out of Calvary Christian HS in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The 21-year-old posted a 1.56 ERA across three levels in 2022, striking out a whopping 155 hitters in 103.2 innings of work. He held opponents to a miserable .181 average while also posting a 6-2 record. Painter was promoted to Double-A Reading. While the last two years were derailed by injuries, Painter is back with a bang in the Arizona Fall League.

In 15 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs a few months ago, the No. 32 prospect in the all of baseball dominatedposting a 2.30 ERA in 15.2 innings. He struck out 18 and surrendered just four walks. Painter’s fastball worked in the 94-99 mph range. The Phillies’ farmhand also stands at 6-foot-7, which means he has fantastic upside on his heater. Painter also displayed quality off-speed stuff, throwing a changeup, curveball and newly introduced slider.

“Coming in here, I just wanted to compete and feel my stuff, feel confident going into ’25 and come out healthy,” Painter said after the AFL, via MLB.com . “He felt great. You can’t simulate it in pencils and everything in the complex. Adrenaline kicked in and did its thing. Everything was good and I feel really good moving forward.”

Even though he’s only 21 years old, Painter has a legitimate chance to make his MLB debut in 2025. After all, Dave Dombrowski has already said he expects Painter to have a role in Philly this season. But for now, he’ll be strictly focused on making his presence felt in Clearwater. Pitchers and catchers report in about a month.