NEW YORK — When Andrew Painter takes the mound Saturday afternoon for the Glendale Desert Dogs, it will be the first time in 591 days that the Phillies’ top prospect has pitched in an actual game. That last one — March 1, 2023 — feels like forever ago. Painter, 19 at the time, pitched in a spring training exhibition. Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa saw enough to predict, “This kid’s going to be a star.” That ascension was delayed two years by Tommy John surgery.
He’s taking a significant step forward by pitching in the Arizona Fall League.
“Our people feel that it would help him mentally knowing that he’s OK to go out there and pitch and compete,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Monday during his team’s workout at Citi Field ahead of Game 3 of the National League Division Series. “And he wants to do that too.”
The Phillies are not thinking about 2025 yet — there are postseason games to win now. But the organization has invested considerable time and resources to ensure Painter’s path toward the majors stays on track. Dombrowski was so smitten with Painter two springs ago; the Phillies intended for him to pitch in the majors that April.
Painter, who turns 22 in April 2025, is scheduled to throw two innings Saturday. Dombrowski expects him to reach 20 innings during fall ball. What comes after that remains an organizational debate.
“What we’re going to have to figure out is how we get him to pitch next year,” Dombrowski said. “Because you’ll still be limited with the number of innings he can pitch. And I don’t know the exact number of innings at this point; even we haven’t discussed that. But he’s not going to be able to go out there like a big-league starter and pitch every five or six days and pitch a whole season and have 180 innings. He’s going to be limited much more than that.”
Dombrowski floated various scenarios.
“Do we start him pitching games later?” he said. “Do we start him pitching at the minor leagues once a week and limit the innings? Could he pitch (in the majors)? Yes. But it will also depend on how he does. People who have seen him throw said he hasn’t missed a beat. In fact, when I got my reports on him at one time, I said, ‘Hey, I hope we know that we don’t have to throw 100 (mph) already.’ I mean, it’s upper 90s. But he just does it. He’s not overthrowing.”
The Phillies have five starters under club control for 2025; four of them (Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Taijuan Walker) are signed. The fifth, Ranger Suárez, will be in his final year of salary arbitration. Dombrowski expects Painter to factor into the club’s plans.
The progression to pitching again in games offers reassurance.
“It’s a great relief for him and a great relief for us,” Dombrowski said. “And I do think he’ll be pitching at the big-league level at some point in ’25.”
It just won’t be at the beginning of the season. By having Painter pitch 20 or so innings now, he could have a longer offseason and begin a throwing program later than everyone else in 2025. That means a later spring training. This could be the most sensible path forward.
Dombrowski, who had pried the door open to Painter winning a rotation job out of camp in 2023, took a more reserved approach when asked about April 2025.
“Do we want him to do that?” Dombrowski said. “Because if he does that, then he won’t be pitching in September. Because he’ll hit his limits. Could he do it? Yes. I mean, could he physically be prepared to do it? Yes. But I don’t know if we think that will be the best thing for him.
“Let’s let him go out and throw. Let’s see how he does.”
The Phillies will have a heavy presence to monitor Painter in Arizona. Greg Brodzinski, the team’s High-A Jersey Shore manager, is a coach for Glendale. Meaghan Flaherty, a Phillies minor-league athletic trainer, will be there. And Aaron Barrett, the club’s minor-league rehab pitching coordinator, is traveling with Painter to Arizona for the duration.
Painter has a 1.48 ERA in 109 2/3 minor-league innings with 167 strikeouts and 25 walks. He was one of the sport’s best pitching prospects before his elbow injury. He’ll have a chance this October to show that label still applies.
“He really wants to go,” Dombrowski said. “It’s worked out to where he feels great.”
(Photo of Andrew Painter pitching in 2023 spring training: Brynn Anderson / Associated Press)
