Andrew Painter competes, avoids ‘spiral' in second spring outing originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CLEARWATER, Fla. — For a 22-year-old, Andrew Painter has seen a thing or two.
Gatorade Player of the Year hardware, a $3.9 million signing bonus, Tommy John surgery, two years of rehab, an underwhelming season at Triple-A and now, an inside track to be the Phillies’ fifth starter.
His calm, collected personality is quite the benefit at his age, especially for the intense Philadelphia environment he’ll soon walk into.
That experience, particularly working through command issues in his first season back from surgery, has added a new layer of skin and a different level of preparation.
On Saturday afternoon at sunny BayCare Ballpark against Toronto, that patience was tested early.
A four-pitch walk to open the game. The first allowed by any of the Phillies’ projected five starters this spring. It was the strongest indicator that Painter didn’t have his best stuff. And for a pitcher who relies on a five-pitch mix, command is what will make the six-foot-seven Florida native successful at the big-league level.
He battled anyway. Three innings, no runs.
Like a pro.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Painter said. “Four-pitch walk to start, kind of go into a hole, but you’ve got to go out there and compete and get yourself out of it. I thought I made some good pitches. I thought the spin was good. I would love to get the changeup going a little bit, but you’ve got to take what you’re given that day and work with it.”
The ability to work through a rough start without letting it snowball was exactly what Rob Thomson was watching for.
“Control and command were off a little bit in the first inning, but the second inning was better than the first and the third was better than the second,” Thomson said. “The encouraging thing to me is that it didn’t spiral on him. And J.T. does a nice job mixing pitches — when Painter missed with his fastball, they changed to another pitch and got him back in his zone.”
That’s the spiral that plagued Painter in 2025 at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Opponents teed off when he fell behind early, and it happened often. His first-pitch strike percentage was 48.8 percent, a mark that would have tied for the lowest in the big leagues since 2021.
When hitters got ahead in the count, they hit .299, drew 47 walks and his WHIP ballooned to 2.74. Overall, he posted a 5.26 ERA and allowed an .826 OPS.
On Saturday, Painter consistently missed above the zone with his fastball, giving Blue Jays hitters the opportunity to swing in favorable counts against both his heater and his breaking pitches. Justin Crawford and Adolis García made impressive catches to save extra bases.
Still, he held them scoreless. And that matters.
“Any time you throw a zero out there, you can’t complain about it,” Painter said. “You can go back and look at some things you might want to tweak or adjust moving forward, but can’t complain.”
Thomson agreed that getting outs without premium stuff is its own kind of progress.
“Absolutely,” he said, when asked if the outing showed Painter can be effective even when he’s not missing bats. “The velocity’s good. He’s got a good ride to it. This part of spring, sometimes you’re going to have those outings where you don’t have the true command and control. But I’m encouraged at how he finished up.”
A big piece of that finishing up involves trust. Painter has already leaned heavily on catcher J.T. Realmuto, 34, for his preparation and feel for the strike zone.
“Everyone on the pitching staff trusts J.T.,” Painter said. “You don’t really second-guess him. Anything he calls, whatever you hear in the PitchCom, you’ve got to have confidence and conviction in it. Having J.T. back there helps that.”
Painter is a competitor. He may not always show it in his demeanor, but his offseasons prove it. He plays basketball to stay in shape and has spent years training alongside two of the more notable arms in the game —rotation mate Jesús Luzardo and Max Scherzer, who made a cameo opposite Painter on Saturday as a member of the Blue Jays.
Scherzer is 41 years old, 6,138 days Painter’s senior. The two have worked out together for years and built a genuine mentorship.
“He’s big on the prep work and the timing of the offseason, the ramp-up process,” Painter said of Scherzer. “You don’t want to get started too early, you don’t want to get going too late — you want a nice, easy build-up without any spikes. He’s been a big mentor for that.”
The competitive edge has rubbed off, too.
“Seeing him in the gym — every aspect of it,” Painter said. “Luzardo is a big one as well, where you’ll see Scherzer and Luzardo go back and forth, whether it’s some sort of three-cone drill in the weight room where it’s timed. Seeing those guys compete, I admire it.”
That competitive mindset traces back to the Tommy John recovery process, and it shows in the mature mentality the soon-to-be rookie possesses.
“With rehab, there’s only so much you can do to compete,” Painter said. “It’s just that mindset of those days where you don’t have your best stuff — that’s where the competitor really comes out and you just have to pitch.”
CJ McCollum
