General manager Dave Dombrowski and the Philadelphia Phillies are eager for top prospect Andrew Painter to take the mound in the MLB.
Phillies GM raves about Andrew Painter this winter
Downbeach’s Tim Kelly shared these quotes from Dombrowski about Painter as the Phillies kick off Spring Training:
“Well, I’m very excited. I think he is one of the best young pitchers in baseball,” Dombrowski said. “Think he’s going to be a tremendous Major League pitcher. Now when I say that, I don’t worry about him hearing that and then not working hard. He works extremely hard. We just have to be careful with him this year.
“He’s gonna be able to pitch some innings, but I’m extremely excited to have him getting closer to pitching at the Major League level, and I think he has the chance to be an exceptional pitcher at the big league level. He has the potential to be a No. 1, top-of-the-rotation type starter. Now maybe he wouldn’t be ours right off the bat. We’ve got some pretty good ones, but he has that type of potential for the long term.”
Phillies could form a dangerous six-man rotation with Painter
Philadelphia is held down by elite All-Stars in Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, and Ranger Suarez as their top three hurlers on the mound. The Phillies also have former All-Star Aaron Nola and standout hurlers Jesus Luzardo who round out their five-man featured unit.
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However, Painter, who is anticipated to get his MLB call-up in July, could gift the Phillies with a precocious arm. The Florida native owns a stellar 1.48 ERA and a 6-2 record across 26 minor league games. He’s also struck out 167 batters at an average of 6.4 SO per game while owning a pristine 0.88 WHIP.
The front office believes he’s next up. Scouts label the 21-year-old flamethrower as a gifted future talent, fueled by his fastball that can reach triple digits, per Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes. It will now be up to Painter to illustrate his potential when the time comes. If so, he and the Phillies could be in for a mutual meteoric rise.
