Phillies Need Young Pitcher To Become Next Great Player for the Franchise

Which player for the Philadelphia Phillies do they need to become a star?

May 26, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a Philadelphia Phillies hat and glove on the bench against the Atlanta Braves in the seventh inning at Truist Park. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies might have gotten off to one of the worst starts to the season in all of baseball, but they have built some nice momentum of late. 

Following a terrible start to the campaign, the Phillies have been red-hot of late. The decision to fire manager Rob Thomson has ended up proving to be the right one, and they have lost just one game with Don Mattingly as the manager. 

While there is still a long road back to being a contender, they are closing in on the .500 mark, and that is an important goal for them to accomplish soon. With Ronald Acuna Jr. on the injured list, the Phillies can then take aim at trying to chase down the Atlanta Braves in the division with their star out. 

However, as the team tries to improve, they are hoping that some of their young talent will be able to continue to improve. Philadelphia has not done the best job of late developing talent, and they are hoping that starting pitcher Andrew Painter can be the next great player for the franchise. 

Phillies Need Painter To Be Great

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Andrew Painter | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

It has been quite some time since Philadelphia has been able to develop a homegrown talent into a star. The last two came about 20 years ago, with both Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard emerging as two of the best in the game at their respective positions. However, since then, there haven't been too many top prospects who have become elite. 

For the last couple of years, Painter has been regarded as the best prospect in the system, and that comes with a lot of pressure. In his rookie season, the results so far have been mixed. Overall, he has totaled a (1-3) record and 5.23 ERA. While those numbers on the surface aren’t great, the most runs that he has allowed in a start are five against the Atlanta Braves. 

One issue for the young right-hander has been his inability to go deeper into games. He has yet to complete six innings in a start, and that is something that will need to be improved. 

As a rookie, there are undoubtedly going to be some growing pains for Painter. However, Philadelphia is going to be letting him work through those in the majors, and he has a lot of talent surrounding him in the rotation. With a need for a prospect to become the next star for the team, hopefully, Painter can live up to expectations.