Phillies prime pitching prospect Andrew Painter made his long-awaited return to sport motion on Saturday afternoon, throwing 29 pitches in a two-inning begin within the Arizona Fall League.
The 21-year-old reached triple-digits along with his fastball, permitting two runs and placing out a pair.
Painter’s first pitch was 98 mph and he hit 100 a number of occasions within the opening body, popping up Mets veteran Jeff McNeil and placing out Giants first-round choose Bryce Eldridge. McNeil is utilizing the AFL, an offseason league owned by MLB that includes many prime prospects, to rehab a wrist harm in hopes of becoming a member of the Mets’ NLCS roster.
Painter was taken deep to start his second inning by left-handed-hitting Tigers catcher/first baseman Josue Briceño. He walked the subsequent batter on 4 pitches and gave up a single, erased them on a double-play ball and allowed a two-out double earlier than placing out the ultimate batter he confronted.
Extra essential than any consequence, he got here out of it wholesome.
Painter injured his proper elbow in March 2023 when he was competing for a spot on the Phillies’ big-league roster. Simply 19 years previous on the time and fewer than two years faraway from highschool, he appeared to have the within monitor to their No. 5 starter’s job till the harm.
Painter and the Phillies at first tried a conservative rehab course of to keep away from Tommy John surgical procedure however he in the end underwent an elbow reconstruction on July 25, 2023. The Phillies’ plan all alongside was to take issues sluggish bringing him again with their eyes on 2025.
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If wholesome, Painter might once more enter spring coaching as a candidate for a rotation spot, although the Phils might additionally transfer intentionally with him to construct up his pitch counts and stamina. He made solely 5 begins at Double A and none at Triple A, in spite of everything.
That’ll be a call in 4½ months. For now, the Phillies are happy to see such an essential piece of their future again on a mound.
