Phillies manager Rob Thomson confirmed in Florida that pitching prospect Andrew Painter has made the team’s roster. That decision will pave the way for Painter, who dealt with significant adversity over the last three years, to make his MLB debut three years after he almost made the team’s roster.
A Look at Painter
Three years ago, Andrew Painter nearly made the Phillies’ roster out of camp. After a fantastic 2022 season in the Minors, Painter was electric in brief work and made some believe that he could make it to the big leagues just a year and a half after he was drafted. That, however, did not happen.
Painter suffered an elbow injury during the camp, which ultimately required UCL reconstruction surgery in 2023. It cost him two full Minor League seasons, with his only action between 2023 and 2025 coming in the 2024 AFL season.
The right-hander spent all of 2025 with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, an uneven campaign. While Painter averaged over a strikeout per inning over 106 innings last season, he gave up a good amount of hard contact, and the fastball velocity fluctuated, particularly at the beginning of the year.
Painter comfortably sat in the 96 MPH range late in the year, after jumping around over April and May.
This spring, Painter has posted serviceable results. Eight strikeouts over 11.2 IP but only two walks and one home run allowed, positive numbers as Painter pushed for a rotation spot that was going to be his with a good performance.
For the right-hander, Painter will look to set things up with a four-seamer with cut, something that’ll get the attention of analytically-driven teams. During the Grapefruit League, he sat 95-97 MPH with it.
Painter used that fastball most of the time as he began to ramp up. Over the spring, we saw more of that arsenal, which includes a changeup, a curveball, a sinker, and two different types of sliders.
Both his sweeper (40% Whiff%) and slider (67%) have been swing-and-miss pitches in Grapefruit League action. And, both have different shapes and speeds. His slider doesn’t have big depth but is a hard pitch, while his sweeper sits in the low-80s.
Analysis
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Painter looked like he was always going to make the team out of camp.
Zack Wheeler is still rehabbing from thoracic outlet syndrome. While he is working his way back, Wheeler won’t be able to have enough time to make it back for Opening Day. And with Ranger Suarez now in Boston, the door was wide open for Painter to slide in.
Painter doesn’t have that top-tier, premium velocity that he showed regularly as a teenager. While he mostly sat at 96-98 MPH in Low-A four years ago, there were times when Painter was able to ratchet it up to 100-101 MPH, particularly in two-strike counts.
Granted, that’s not an excuse by any means. Pitchers can still live without that velocity but after all that he’s been through, it’ll be all about composure and carving out a role for himself in what will be a very good rotation on paper, even without Wheeler. Cristopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, and the newly-extended Jesus Luzardo headline that rotation, alongside Taijuan Walker.
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