Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter has one goal for 2024: ‘Just get on a mound’

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A year ago this week, Andrew Painter stood atop the mound on a back field at the Carpenter Complex and unleashed 99-mph fastballs to Kyle Schwarber in a round of live batting practice that qualified as a must-see event in Phillies camp.

“It’s the Painter Show!” outfielder Brandon Marsh said, and everyone laughed because they knew it was true.

But Painterpalooza seems like so much longer ago now. The Phillies’ top prospect sprained a ligament in his right elbow last March and had Tommy John surgery on July 25. He only started playing catch again last month after arriving in Clearwater on Jan. 8. Team officials have said he won’t pitch competitively this season.

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Painter is in spring training with the Phillies. But rather than being the center of attention, he’s hiding in plain sight.

Most days, the 20-year-old righty arrives by 10 a.m. and doesn’t leave until 3 p.m., well after the major leaguers are gone. After lockering next to Zack Wheeler in the BayCare Ballpark clubhouse last spring, Painter’s work is confined to the minor-league side of the complex.

For now, that work consists of playing catch four days a week from 75 feet and strengthening his shoulder in the weight room.

“There’s no expectations right now,” Painter said Friday in his first interview since the surgery. “We haven’t talked about a timetable or anything like that. We don’t want to clog the mind with different scenarios and play the hypothetical game. We’re just trying to make sure there’s the least amount of distractions possible and I can just go in and focus on my rehab and make sure I’m getting better every day.”

Indeed, seven months into the tedious recovery from a surgery that typically takes 12 to 18 months to come back from, the end of the tunnel is still too far away for Painter to see it. And he’s trying his best not to squint.

Painter is also trying to avoid one question: What if?

On the first point, Painter admitted it’s “hard to say.” But he said he hasn’t second-guessed himself or thought much at all about the game against the Twins, even though his agent, Scott Boras, expressed concern at the time about the Phillies pushing Painter too soon.

“I don’t want to say, ‘Oh, it would’ve happened,’ this or that,” he said. “You can’t really play that game. It just is what it is. Can’t control it. That’s the way I look at it.”

On the second point, Painter noted that surgery is never recommended until it’s deemed necessary. And multiple doctors, including prominent Los Angeles-based surgeon Neal ElAttrache, believed the location of the sprain signaled a greater likelihood of healing without cutting open Painter’s elbow.

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“Obviously you don’t want to just go straight into surgery if you don’t need it,” Painter said. “I think you always want to try. Looking back, I’m still glad that we did what we did, just knowing that you gave it a shot and it just didn’t work out.”

Besides, it’s healthier for Painter’s body and mind to take the forward-looking view — and to remember how young he is.

If Painter made the opening-day roster last season, he would’ve been the first 19-year-old to pitch for the Phillies since Mark Davis in 1980. He will turn 21 on April 10. If he makes his major-league debut before he turns 22, he will still be the youngest Phillies pitcher since Fabio Castro in 2006, the youngest starter since Gavin Floyd in 2004.

“You’ve always got to keep that in mind,” Painter said. “You’ll have days where you’re kind of thinking, especially [when] the long days of rehab gets brutal, you’ve got to look at the future. You’ve got to think about your career long-term.”

Painter has other outlets for preserving his sanity. He enjoys cooking, although he said he simplified his culinary pursuits from grilling ground elk to sticking with ground beef. Despite working out in the Florida heat last summer, he grew a full beard, which he summarily shaved but kept the mustache.

“I just woke up one morning and the mustache was there,” Painter said. “I didn’t like the beard. I don’t know. You’ve got to do something — rehab beard, rehab mustache. Something’s got to come out of it. Some people dye their hair. I wasn’t going to go that far.”

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The Phillies won’t go as far as predicting when Painter might get on a mound or pitch in a game. But president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski all but ruled out the latter happening before the end of the season, even in the minor leagues.

“Is there a chance? I guess there’s always, but I’m not counting on it,” Dombrowski said. “Because they usually aren’t ready to go until the second year anyway, so you may as well give a young kid like that the full opportunity. We don’t need to rush him in that regard.”

Painter’s goal for 2024: “Just get on a mound.”

“The body always wants to go, go, go,” Painter said. “I think I’ve gotten a lot better at being able to read my body and know when I feel good, when I feel bad, when I need to take a step back, when I’m good to push through something.

“I want to feel good, I want to be healthy, I want to throw to some hitters, and just be able to feel close to what I was pre-injury. Just mentally knowing that I can repeat what I was in the past and get back to that even better than that.”

Until then, Painterpalooza can wait.

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Third baseman Alec Bohm (neck spasms) won’t play this weekend, but manager Rob Thomson labeled it “nothing serious.” … Third-string catcher Rafael Marchán is dealing with lower back pain. … Remember Hans Crouse, the former pitching prospect acquired in the Kyle Gibson-Spencer Howard trade at the 2021 deadline? He signed with the Angels as a minor-league free agent. … Left-hander Kolby Allard will start the Grapefruit League opener Saturday against the Blue Jays in Dunedin. Aaron Nola will start Sunday at home against the Yankees followed by David Buchanan and Cristopher Sánchez on Monday and Tuesday in Fort Myers against the Red Sox and Twins, respectively.