Should Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospect Painter Start the Season in the Minor Leagues?
The Philadelphia Phillies have one of, if not the best pitching prospect in all of baseball on their hands. Andrew Painter is projected to be a top of the rotation starter in an MLB rotation and perhaps a Cy Young award candidate during his career.
It's for those reasons that Painter has not just risen through the rankings, but through the Phillies farm system since his arrival to the pros following the 2021 MLB draft. Now, he is a candidate to begin the season in Philadelphia's rotation as their fifth starter.
However, The Athletic's Keith Law appeared on The Phillies Nation podcast this past week and shared his thoughts on Painter's future and development.
". . . I feel like if they put him on the Major League roster … like obviously he’s got the two pitches right now to help a Major League team in some capacity … maybe it’s long relief or the bullpen, I like the idea of breaking starters in like that … but this guy has No. 1 starter upside,” Law said. “And to me, you set aside short-term needs to do everything you can to get this guy to his No. 1 starter upside.
“This is best pitcher in the National League at some point in his career type of upside. I don’t mean the 99th percentile, this is a reasonable upside we’re talking about for him. But there are steps he has to take to get there.”
It goes without saying that the Phillies envision Painter as a number one-type guy. There isn't a pressing need to push Painter at this stage, especially given the fact that the team went out and signed Taijuan Walker and Bailey Falter proved he is a serviceable fifth pitcher down the stretch last season.
Those factors allow some wiggle room in Painter's continued development, something that Law is an advocate for.
". . . honestly, I’d just feel more confident even if he went to Triple-A for a month to start the year. And if we see at the end of that month that the changeup is turning out to be a real weapon for him and the other stuff hasn’t changed … the other two pitches are there and he’s still throwing strikes … OK, great. You know what? May 1, call him up."
So the question remains:
If Painter has a knock out Spring Training, should he begin the 2023 MLB season in the rotation or should he refine his skills for a few months?
Philadelphia should be pursuing the longer term option when it comes to Painter and what his skills could mean for the franchise years down the road.
A few months in Triple-A could pay massive dividends down the line.
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