Minor League Baseball

Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospect Dominates in Second Rehab Start - on Bobblehead Day

Andrew Painter was on the mound in Florida while his bobblehead was being released in Pennsylvania.
Brady Farkas|
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. (85) hat sits in the dugout against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning during spring training at TD Ballpark on Feb. 26.
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. (85) hat sits in the dugout against the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth inning during spring training at TD Ballpark on Feb. 26. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter threw an excellent 3.0 innings in his second rehab start for Single-A Clearwater on Friday.

He did that all while his bobblehead was being released by Double-A Reading in Pennsylvania.

Painter, 22, threw 3.0 scoreless innings as he comes back from Tommy John surgery in 2023. He allowed three hits and no walks while striking out four. He now has a 4.15 ERA through 4.1 innings across two starts. Those are his only two regular season games since 2022.

The Phillies seem destined to promote him this summer, but they'll be very careful about his workload and his stress levels. He could even appear as a reliever to further manage his innings.

Painter is the No. 7 prospect in baseball and the top-rated Phillies prospect.

Per a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

During his time in the Fall League, Painter showed that in many ways he was the same premium prospect with a legitimate four-pitch mix, albeit with a little twist. His plus heater was touching 100 mph again and averaged 97 in the fall with plenty of ride up in the zone, he dropped in his low-80s curve for strikes and his above-average changeup got better as the fall season wore on. The new wrinkle for the 6-foot-7 right-hander was a harder slider with cutter-like action thrown in the upper 80s, replacing what had been more of a sweeper. 

The Phillies will be back in action on Saturday when they take on the Miami Marlins at the big-league level.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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