Report: Top Phillies Pitching Prospect Andrew Painter will Pitch in the Arizona Fall League

While most of the members of the Phillies organization are laser-focused on the current situation in the NLDS, there are a few people still tasked with keeping an eye on the future. 

And that future got some good news today regarding top prospect Andrew Painter. 

Per a report from MLB.com writer Todd Zolecki, Painter will pitch in an actual game relatively soon.

Good news for Andrew Painter. The #Phillies are sending their No. 1 pitching prospect (and No. 32 prospect in baseball) to the Arizona Fall League, so he can face hitters before the offseason.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) October 7, 2024

Painter, 21, was the Phillies first round pick (No. 13 overall) in the 2021 MLB draft. He was considered the top pitching prospect in all of baseball entering 2023 and was considered a real option for the Phillies rotation a season ago, before suffering an elbow injury in spring training that ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgery last summer. 

It's been nearly 20 months since Painter pitched in a game, but now he'll get a chance to do so again in the Arizona Fall League (AFL), a five-week baseball league for minor league prospects that begins today and runs through Nov. 16. 

Painter will join fellow Phillies prospects SS Bryan Rincon, (ranked No. 10 among Phillies prospects by MLB Pipeline); OF Gabriel Rincones Jr. (No. 11); RHP Wen-Hui Pan, (No. 20); RHP Griff McGarry, (No. 21); RHP Christian McGowan, (No. 22); INF Otto Kemp, (No. 28); C Jordan Dissin; LHP Tristan Garnett and LHP Wesley Moore.

The Phillies prospects will play for the Glendale Desert Dogs, a team comprised of prospects from five teams. Joining the Phillies are prospects from the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox.

Painter burst onto the scene in 2022, dominating at three different levels of the minor leagues. Including four starts in rookie ball in 2021, Painter has posted eye-popping numbers in the minors. He has a 1.48 ERA and a 0.875 WHIP while striking out 167 batters in 109 2/3 innings. 

The Phillies expect him to be a part of their rotation at some point in 2025, although there's a good chance he will be on an innings limit of some sort after having not pitched for so long and coming off of major reconstructive surgery. Getting him into some live game action now will give the Phillies a real sense of where he's at as he begins his offseason throwing program.

Can confirm @ToddZolecki’s report that Andrew Painter is going to the Arizona Fall League. He’s built up to two innings so far. Fastball velo is 95-99. Slider is upper 80s- low 90s.

The tentative plan is to have him start with a two inning outing and build up from there.

— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) October 7, 2024

As for some of the other Phillis prospects headed to the AFL:

• Rincon is a defense-first shortstop who had a slow start to 2024 and was starting to turn it around in May before a hamstring injury sidelined him for three months.
• Rincones was a breakout star in the AFL in 2023 with an .889 OPS, but he tore a ligament in his thumb and only played 68 games in 2024. 
• Pan, 22, only pitched 29 innings, mostly in relief, but he was intriguing, with a 2.15 ERA and a 1.057 WHIP across three levels of the minors. 
• Now 25, McGarry's wildness has cost him his prospect status. He spent most of the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley where he walked 36 batters in 30 2/3 innings. The AFL could be his last chance for a reset.
• McGowan, 24, a seventh round pick in 2021, didn't have a great season. He posted a 6.02 ERA in 14 appearances (11 starts) in 40 1/3 innings, mostly at Double-A Reading.
• Kemp, 25, put together an impressive season offensively, playing at all four levels. In 123 games, he had 529 plate appearances and slashed .285/.392/.489 for an .881 OPS with 16 homers.