Phillies prospect Andrew Painter extends scoreless streak to 22 innings
Phillies #3 prospect and 13th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Andrew Painter continued his dominance over the Single-A Florida State League by extending his scoreless streak to 22 consecutive innings.
If you are a frequent visitor to TheLibertyLine.com, you may have noticed that we have a baseball crush on the 19-year-old right-handed pitcher.
It seems every week we have an article about the 6’7” 215-pound Painter’s latest achievement, like when he struck out the side in his first three professional innings, or when topped that by striking out 13 consecutive batters a week later.
Expectations for a teenager entering his first full season of professional baseball usually need to be tempered. However, Painter is far exceeding what even his biggest supporters had projected for him entering the year.
In what was a rain-soaked weekend that saw two games postponed in Clearwater, Painter tossed another four innings of scoreless baseball, allowing only two hits, walking two, and striking out six.
Andrew Painter in 2022: 0-1, 16.0 IP, 5 BB, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 36 K
Painter has now struck out 48 of a possible 66 batters (70%) via the strikeout over his two seasons in the minor leagues. Painter’s WHIP is an impressive 0.69 and opponents are now batting .111 against him this season.
This is by far the best quality video I have seen of Painter all season long. Shoutout to Fangraphs.com for recording this entire start from the April 23rd game in which he struck out 14 batters against the Tampa Tarpons. According to Kiley McDaniel, Painter was averaging 96-98 mph with his fastball, topping out around 99-100. Combined with an elite slider that was clocked around 82-84 mph, it is no wonder why the young hitters in the Florida State League are being so overpowered. If Painter is ever able to develop a third elite pitch the results could be utterly devastating for future opponents.
My favorite part of the video (yes, I watched the entire thing), is the relaxing and somewhat comforting sounds of the seagulls circling Shoretown Park in Lakewood. It was like some weird version of baseball ASMR.
Using the DIGS scoring system, which is short for ‘Defense Independent Game Score‘, Andrew Painter is far and away from the top-ranked pitcher regardless of age so far this season in Single-A. I would imagine his lead will have only increased after adding in this weekend’s start.
Now listen, I am not a minor league baseball development expert. In fact, I am not really an expert on anything. But when a young player like Painter is compiling elite statistics at such a young age it has to mean something positive.
The last time a pitcher dominated in the Phillies minor league system like this was when Sixto Sanchez allowed only 3 ER in 54 innings as a 17-year-old playing in rookie ball. At the time Sanchez’s sudden success was even more confounding considering he was an off-the-radar pitching prospect that the Phillies had paid only $35,000 to sign the year before.
Fast forward six years and Sanchez remains one of the game’s top pitching prospects, despite recently missing a full season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and when healthy could very well be an All-Star for the Marlins.
Is it too soon to project similar things for Andrew Painter? The Phillies apparently think so, after the Inquirer’s Scott Lauber reported last week that we’re not ready to promote the budding star.
According to Preston Mattingly, the Phillies’ new Director of Player Development, Painter still has a lot to work on including getting his preparation and routine dialed in while learning to pitch once a week and gaining consistency in the weight room.
Of course, that won’t stop Phillies fans from clamoring to see Painter join fellow pitcher and Phillies #1 prospect Mick Abel in sharing the mound closer to home, at High-A Jersey Shore.
Speaking of Mick Abel, the 20-year-old has also had a terrific start to the season, posting a 3.86 ERA over his first 14 innings of work. That’s formidable when you take into account that all but one of Abel’s teammates on the pitching staff were born between 1997 and 2000.
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Mandatory Credit: Clearwater Threshers
