While the front office explores trades and free-agent fits, the Phillies have already experienced one important positive development this offseason.
Andrew Painter not only showed his arm was healthy in the Arizona Fall League, he excelled, earning the AFL's Pitcher of the Year award this weekend.
Painter made six starts and allowed four runs and 14 baserunners in 15⅔ innings, striking out 18. He touched 99 mph with his fastball at the beginning and end of his run in Arizona against some of baseball's top prospects and also incorporated more sliders to go along with his curveball and a developing changeup.
Painter, now 21, was the frontrunner to win the Phillies' fifth starter's job two years ago at age 19. He impressed in his first spring training start but came away from it with an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. He missed all of 2023 and 2024, so this was a crucial step on his journey back.
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"Coming in here, I just wanted to compete and get a feel for my stuff, feel confident going into '25 and walk out healthy," Painter told MLB.com earlier this week. "It felt great. You can't simulate it in bullpens and everything back at the complex. The adrenaline kicked in and did its part. Everything felt good, and I feel really good moving forward."
Painter remains the Phillies' top pitching prospect and one of the best in the sport. He sped all the way to Double A in his first year in the Phillies' system and owns a 1.48 ERA in the minor leagues with nearly seven times as many strikeouts as walks.
The Phillies will handle him with care in 2025. They haven't and likely won't provide a firm innings limit but it could be somewhere in the vicinity of 100. His career-high was 103⅔ in 2022.
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That could mean Painter begins the regular season in the minor leagues even if he dazzles in spring training, building up gradually and potentially helping the Phillies later in the year.
Those decisions don't need to be made in November, though. For now, the Phillies are just ecstatic that Painter looks like he's back.
