Philadelphia Phillies Expect Top Prospect to Miss All of 2024 Season with Injury
According to Philadelphia Phillies' President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski, the organization doesn't expect top prospect Andrew Painter to pitch in any games during the 2024 season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
Dombrowski made the comments to WIP Radio in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning.
Dombrowski: "Painter's rehab is going fine...He's just tossing at this point, which is where he should be. I don't really look for Andrew to pitch this year. I'm looking towards 2025. I guess you can always be surprised, but I don't want to put that pressure on him."
The hosts and Dombrowski also discussed a possible Zack Wheeler extension, Bryce Harper's contract status and much more. You can read more here.
As for Painter, the injury is a brutal development for him. He was potentially going to make the roster out of spring training in 2023 but ended up trying to rehab his elbow, which ultimately didn't work. He enters 2024 as the No. 1 prospect in the organization and the No. 27 prospect in all of baseball.
The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:
The fact that Painter is still regarded as one of the best pitching prospects in the game while on the sidelines is a testament to his ability. His combination of stuff, size and feel for pitching add to the faith in him, with a legitimate four-pitch mix at his disposal. His fastball can touch triple digits and was averaging around 96 mph at the end of 2022, and he throws both a sinking two-seamer as well as a high-spin four-seamer up in the zone. His slider is an out pitch, a low-80s offering with a ton of break and huge spin rates. His upper-70s curve provides a different look, and his above-average changeup has really improved.
The Phillies got to the NLCS last season but were eliminated in seven games by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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