Andrew Painter and Christian Scott were high school teammates. Now they will face off in a ‘special’ matchup.
The two pitchers attended Calvary Christian, a powerhouse that won the Class 4A state championship in 2016 with Scott and in 2018 with Scott and Painter.
NEW YORK — The message landed on Andrew Painter’s phone before the Phillies landed at LaGuardia Airport.
When are you pitching?
Christian Scott had to know. More importantly, a few former coaches from Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., needed to book plane tickets. Because if the Phillies’ starting rotation stayed in order — not a guarantee after Jesús Luzardo went on the injured list — Painter would face the Mets’ Scott, his former high school teammate, here on Saturday.
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“They were all pretty eager to figure out what was going on,” Painter said Friday. “I didn’t know if I was going to be throwing [Friday] or [Saturday]. So everyone was just kind of waiting for that answer.
“It worked out.”
So former Calvary Christian coach Alan Kunkel was en route to New York — “Can’t wait!” he said Friday in a text message — along with then-pitching coach Alex Norris.
Painter and Scott were teammates in 2018, when the former was a freshman and the latter a senior. Not surprisingly, Calvary Christian was a powerhouse, winning the Class 4A state championship in 2016 with Scott and in 2018 with Scott and Painter.
Kunkel remembered Scott as “very emotional at times” on the mound; Painter was more laid-back. If there was a question about Painter in high school, Kunkel said some scouts wondered if he was competitive enough.
“They were both equally competitive; they just did it different ways,” Kunkel said earlier this year. “I really think that if clubs thought [Painter] was as competitive as he really is, he’d have been the first or second [overall] pick of the draft. Because, man, he wanted the ball when it mattered.”
If anything, Painter said Scott’s path through amateur baseball almost served as a road map.
Scott, 27, pitched for the Florida before the Mets drafted him in the fifth round in 2021. Painter, 23, verbally committed to Florida, too, but changed course after getting drafted in the first round in 2021 and signing with the Phillies for $3.9 million.
“We worked out together as well, outside of school,” said Painter, who drove with Scott twice a week to the Cressey Sports Performance training facility in South Florida. “Just kind of being able to lean on him for some of that stuff when I was just getting into it and kind of being able to take a little bit of his work ethic and kind of just pay attention to that stuff.”
» READ MORE: Jesús Luzardo ‘definitely concerned’ as inflamed left shoulder lands him on the injured list
They’ve shared other experiences. Painter missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons after tearing an elbow ligament and having Tommy John surgery; Scott didn’t pitch in the majors last season while recovering from the same procedure.
Painter made his major league debut this season. And after posting a 7.06 ERA and getting sent back to the minors in June, he returned a month later and has a 3.58 ERA in his last nine starts.
Scott debuted for the Mets in May 2024 and had a 4.56 ERA in nine starts. He has a 3.76 mark through 22 starts this season.
“It’s really awesome,” Painter said. “It’s not something you really think about when you’re in high school. … It’s a big day. It’s special. I can only imagine from [their coaches’] point of view how much they’re looking forward to it.”
Matt Klentak's fingerprints are still on the Phillies' roster six years after he was the team's general manager. These days, Klentak is part of the front office for the Brewers, who recently clinched their fourth consecutive NL Central title. With the Brewers coming to town Tuesday, Klentak joined Phillies Extra to discuss his current and former teams. Watch here.
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