In the past, late July has meant trouble for Andrew Painter.
Well, at least it did in 2023.
It was two years ago, on July 25, when the Philadelphia Phillies’ top prospect – and the most hyped homegrown pitcher in over a decade – went under the knife for Tommy John surgery. Just 20 years old, Painter had spent Spring Training flirting with an historic Opening Day rotation spot, only to have his elbow give out before he ever got his first big-league start.
But this year, July could mark the opposite: a long-awaited debut and a massive jolt to an already-loaded Phillies staff.
Andrew Painter Working Toward Potential ‘July-ish’ Debut in MLB
Since the start of spring training, “July-ish” has been the standard answer from Phillies manager Rob Thomson and President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski regarding the anticipated MLB debut for Painter. Thomson seemingly narrowed the window a little further recently, when asked if Painter might make his first start before the All-Star break, which runs July 14-17.
“I don’t think so,” Thomson responded.
But Dombrowski cautioned against jumping to conclusions. Appearing with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman on the New York Post podcast “The Show,” Dombrowski reminded that Painter has only pitched four games, and 17 innings, for Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.
“He’s progressing in the fashion that we’d like to,” Dombrowski said.
“He’s still throwing 96 to 100 [mph] with a good breaking ball and command. I think what continues to evolve, like a lot of guys coming back from injury, he needs to get out there, get better command on a consistent basis, improve the sharpness of some of his pitches, improve his changeup, so all of that keeps coming.”
Dombrowski also touted the Phillies starting rotation as a team strength, stating that the pitchers currently on the roster will have something to say about whether there’s even an opening for Painter as the trade deadline approaches.
“It depends upon how he does and how we do but by no means is it guaranteed he’s coming up to the major leagues in July,” Dombrowski stressed, “because if your other five starting pitchers are pitching great, well, he just keeps going there [with Lehigh Valley] and then you figure it out.”
Adding Andrew Painter Would Give Phillies an Embarrassment of Riches
Philadelphia’s rotation has been elite. Zack Wheeler is pitching like an ace, Ranger Suárez is a Cy Young candidate, Cristopher Sánchez is throwing the best ball of his career, and even Taijuan Walker has stabilized after early struggles. Aaron Nola opened the season with just one win in his first nine starts, and he is currently on the injured list with a sprained ankle, but the longtime superstar will have a spot waiting for him when he is ready.
So who gets bumped if Painter continues to pitch like he has so far? The 22-year-old right-hander is 2-0 at Lehigh Valley with a 2.65 ERA and 20 strikeouts against seven walks. When he gets the call up to Philadelphia, it will be as a starter, not a reliever.
“We are still looking at an elite pitcher,” Dombrowski said, “and we’ll just see where he fits in, because as we know, we can never have too much starting pitching.”
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