Phillies top prospect gets 100% real on Fall League performance

Top Philadelphia Phillies prospect Andrew Painter was pushing for a spot on the Opening Day roster before being forced to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2023. But now back healthy, Painter is once again showing why he is so heralded.

Over his 15.2 innings in the Arizona Fall League, Painter held a 2.30 ERA – which ranked second-best in the league, .189 batting average against and an 18/4 K/BB ratio. After battling back from a brutal injury, Painter just wanted to get his sea legs underneath him . He managed to do a bit more than that with his standout performance, via Jim Callis of MLB.com.

"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 said. "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."

In his final AFL outing, Painter struck out six batters on a season-high 53 pitches over 2.2 innings. He has been developing a slider that he relied on throughout the season. While the Phillies will continue to play it safe with Painter, it seems likely he will be ready for his MLB debut at some point in 2025; assuming no injury setback.

When he does arrive, Philadelphia will be adding one of the best prospects in baseball to their ranks. Painter currently sits as the second-best prospect in the organization and No. 32 overall in all of baseball, via MLB Pipeline. Over his 26 games at the minor league level, the right-hander holds a 6-2 record with a 1.48 ERA and a 167/25 K/BB ratio.

Andrew Painter's AFL performance points to a healthy player ready to make an impact. Even if he isn't on the roster on Opening Day, expect to see Painter in Philadelphia sooner rather than later.