Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospect Andrew Painter Spins Another Gem

Another day, another gem for the Philadelphia Phillies immensely talented top prospect, Andrew Painter.

Author:
Alex Carr
Sep 10, 2022 5:00 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

What more is there to be said about Andrew Painter at this point?

The Philadelphia Phillies' top prospect logged another spectacular start on Friday, tossing five innings of scoreless baseball, striking out nine batters and allowing just three hits in the process.

Painter's season has been nothing short of remarkable. Not only did the 19-year-old (yes, he's only 19) record his 150th strikeout on the season yesterday, but he managed to do so in under 100 total innings pitched. A truly absurd feat.

Overall, in 99.2 innings on the season across three levels, Painter has recorded a 1.17 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP, and a minuscule .170 batting average against.

The Phillies top prospect is expected to toss one more start before his season comes to a close, but when all is said and done, this may go down as the most dominant season a Phillies minor league arm has ever produced - and if you've ever taken a peek at Cole Hamels' minor league numbers, you'd know just how unbelievable of an achievement that would be.

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Triple-A: Eflin Tosses Two Frames in Solid Rehab Outing

Help is on the way at the major league level.

After nearly three months on the injured list, Zach Eflin is on the comeback trail, a process which began with his premiere rehab outing on Friday.

Eflin was solid for the Pigs. He tossed two innings of one-run ball, and struck out three batters in the process. There has been an abundance of talk that Eflin will either work as an opener, or as a length-focused bullpen arm in this latter half of the regular season.

Whatever role he may fill, the 28-year-old is going to be a major help to the Phillies pitching staff as they attempt to preserve their most important arms for the stretch run.

Double-A: De La Cruz Goes Nuclear Once Again

It's official: Carlos De La Cruz has taken the next step. The 22-year-old went yard for the seventh time in Double-A on Friday, bumping his Reading average to a respectable .286, and his OPS to a more-than impressive .869.

De La Cruz is massive (standing at six-foot-eight) and is finally beginning to hit enough/strikeout at a sustainable rate. It was oft predicted that his frame would get in the way of his ability to make a consistent amount of contact, but that has been far from the case during his 2022 season.

If the young outfielder can keep producing at this rate, he may find his name mentioned in some top prospect conversations in the near future.

High-A: Could Kendall Simmons Have Turned A Corner?

Kendall Simmons has some of the most prevalent raw power in the entirety of the Phillies system, but was suffering at the hands of a dreadful second season with Clearwater in 2022.

However, the young infielder was promoted to Jersey Shore at the start of August, and has since surprisingly shown some signs of improvement.

The 22-year-old has struck out just 12 times at the High-A level, and has conversely walked seven times. He has also managed three home runs across his first 15 games, one of which came in Friday's loss to Aberdeen.

It's a small sample size, but any signs of improvement for Simmons are welcome ones. If he can harness his raw power and make more quality contact, he has a chance to develop into a serious prospect.

Single-A: PPD

Lehigh Valley IronPigs vs. Worcester Red Sox: W 9-2

1B Darick Hall - 2-for-4, 2 2B, R, RBI

RHP Trevor Bettancourt - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Reading Fightin Phils vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats: W 11-0

OF Johan Rojas - 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB, K, 2 SB

OF Jhailyn Ortiz - 1-for-4, 2 R, BB, 2 K

Jersey Shore BlueClaws vs. Aberdeen IronBirds: L 8-0

INF Hao-Yu Lee - 1-for-5, 2B, 3 K

LHP Jordan Fowler - 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Clearwater Threshers vs. Bradenton Marauders: PPD