Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospect Will Allow the Team To Move to a Six-Man Rotation

The Philadelphia Phillies have a decision to make with their top prospect knocking on the door of the MLB, and it seems a six-man rotation will be in play.

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (76) participates in media day at BayCare Ballpark. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have an intriguing decision to make this offseason, and it is in regards to their top prospect being nearly ready for MLB action. The team has an extremely strong starting rotation of pitchers at the moment, with Zach Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo currently set to be the group.

However, things may get a little more interesting this season, as their top prospect Andrew Painter is getting closer and closer to an MLB debut, having performed well in his five games at Double-A Reading in 2022, and returning to health recently after missing two seasons.

Odds are he will start the year out in Triple-A, which will give the team an idea of where he stands compared to that level of competition. This also puts him only one step away from his debut in the big leagues, which shakes up the pitching rotation a bit.

On the WIP Morning Show recorded March 6, manager Rob Thomson spoke about the current situation and what may happen when Painter is ready. He mentioned that the top prospect would, "most definitely would be one of our starters." Additionally, he stated that the team would likely move to a six-man rotation for the starters, rather than have one of the current pitchers moved out in favor of Painter.

This is an intriguing concept, given the talent the Phillies have across the board when it comes to pitching, but it completely makes sense from the standpoint of getting your best players on the field at all costs.

While it may take the best of the best an extra day to come through the rotation with one more in the room, it also increases the depth of the team, and come October, it may be the best option for a potential postseason run. Having a fresh arm on the mound each day rather than wearing out the best ones is a strong way to have a formidable pitching group.

The difficulty is Painter has not been around recently, having last played in the minor leagues back in 2022, before needing Tommy John surgery after recurring elbow discomfort and a partially torn UCL. He took some time to play in the Arizona Fall League this offseason, and did well, putting together a 2.30 ERA, 0.894 WHIP, and had 18 strikeouts to four walks in six appearances.

He will most definitely be one of the most interesting players to watch for throughout the season, and when his promotion does eventually come, the team will have to change things around to get him some reps.

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