Andrew Painter is healthy, but what is the Phillies' plan for their top pitching prospect?
Andrew Painter will be a starting pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization for the 2025 season. Where Painter starts the season remains a mystery.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski doesn't have a timeline on when Painter will be on the major league roster in 2025, yet the team will build toward that happening.
"He's going to be a starting pitcher. I don't think there's any question about that," Dombrowski said Tuesday. "Now he has to earn a starting position with the big league club whenever it gets to that point. He is a very, very talented individual. It's apparent he's healthy, and he'll get a limited number of innings in the Arizona Fall League and then be in a position (where) we're gonna have to make a determination on how we're going to use his innings next year.
"He's not going to be a guy we can count on to throw 180 innings at the major league level."
Painter has been sidelined since March 2023 after experiencing right elbow discomfort, eventually leading to Tommy John surgery in July of that year. He's been throwing off a mound at the Carpenter Complex this summer, eventually topping 99 mph when throwing to live hitters. The Phillies sent Painter to the Arizona Fall League, where he topped out at 100 mph in his first start, throwing 29 pitches in his two innings.
"The rust is just coming off," Dombrowski said. "The other day, he was throwing great and he gave up two runs, which is very unusual for him. He usually doesn't ever even give up two runs. He'll get better and better every time he goes out there, so the rust will come off."
Painter is expected to pitch 20 innings in the Arizona Fall League before the Phillies decide on the next steps in his progression.
Dombrowski isn't sure what that plan is for Painter, but it's something the Phillies will discuss. Still only 21 years old, Painter will be with the Phillies in spring training and was technically on the Double-A Reading roster this year (he was out for the season rehabbing the elbow injury).
"The main thing is that we want to make sure that he's healthy and that he's ready to go into spring training," Dombrowski said. "What I don't know is we need to figure out how many innings we feel comfortable for him to pitch next year. And then we need to have a plan in that regard.
"Does he pitch at the minor league level for a while and then come up? Does he pitch two or three innings in the beginning and add more innings at the back end of the year? Does he have a consistent number of innings all year long?"
The Phillies do have a blueprint for how to manage Painter. The Pittsburgh Pirates threw Paul Skenes 27.1 innings in seven starts last season in Triple-A Indianapolis before calling him up to the major league club, where Skenes threw 133.0 innings in 23 starts.
"He talked about how happy he was with that situation," Dombrowski said. "He started in the minors, but he wasn't coming off an injury either. So all of those are factors, but those are things we'll talk about in spring training next year."
Painter will be ready to pitch in 2025. When he will actually pitch for the big club is still up in the air.