MLB rumors: Wainwright retirement, Phillies prospect snag, more
By Josh Wilson
Phillies top prospect hits delay
Everyone is waiting for Andrew Painter, who looks to be the next big thing in the pitching prospect pipeline. Painter is our ninth-highest prospect and second-highest-ranked pitcher. He hasn’t seen game action since March and has been put on the shelf due to a sprained UCL in his throwing arm.
Painter caused some high heart rates for Phillies fans during spring training but he has been able to avoid Tommy John surgery, which is a huge positive for a young pitcher with early throwing arm ligament issues.
The Phillies had plans for him to face hitters on Independence Day, but at the last moment that plan went through a detour. Painter’s return to real pitching will be delayed once more.
Rob Thompson said that Painter had stiffness, and they decided to push back his live BP. For now, there is no timetable for when the recovery plan will resume, but when Thompson spoke to the media about it, hedidn’t express much concern, saying it was just routine soreness and an abundance of caution for the Phils and Painter.
In 2022 at the Double-A level, Painter started five games and earned just eight runs in 28.1 innings (2.54 ERA) with a ridiculous 18.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He walked just two batters at the AA level.
Overall, since joining the farm system in 2021, Painter has an ERA of 1.48 and a WHIP of 0.875.
For now, it’s more waiting for good news for the Phillies and Painter.