Andrew Painter Arrives in Style: ‘You Would’ve Never Known That That Was his First Start’
Philadelphia Phillies' Andrew Painter pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Andrew Painter, welcome to the show. Philadelphia has been waiting for you.
Back in 2021, the Philadelphia Phillies were fresh off entering a new decade, surviving a global pandemic, and still trying to end a decade-long streak of missing the postseason. The Phillies were in a rut; they went through the rebuild stage, said goodbye to the stars of the 2008 team, and went nearly a decade drafting in the top 10 of the draft year after year.
However, over time, despite bringing in top-pick talent, almost nobody was able to strike stardom in the majors, and by the time the Phillies signed Bryce Harper in 2019, they had almost no homegrown talent on the roster. Aaron Nola and Rhys Hoskins were the few outliers, and Nola was the only true top draft pick to make it on the main roster.
Things eventually changed, funny enough, right around when Harper showed up in 2019. Philadelphia found gems in Alec Bohm and Mick Abel in the first round in 2019 and 2020, but in the 2021 draft, they ended up stealing one of the top high school pitching arms at pick 13.
That was Andrew Painter, a 6’7′, 215-pound right-handed pitcher out of Calvary Christian High School in Florida. Painter was a huge pitcher, someone who was catching eyes well before his stellar senior year of high school, where he finished with a 0.31 ERA and won Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year award.
Painter stood at 6’6′ at 15 years old when he was pitching for the Under-15 USA Baseball national team, dominating then, and continuing that success into getting drafted. The Phillies, who at the time had a solid one-two punch in the majors in Zack Wheeler and Nola, were looking to build the future of the rotation, and thankfully, Painter fell in their laps at their selection, instantly giving the Phillies a stud pitcher to look forward to.
Painter’s journey to the majors was a strange one, as it started hot with the right-hander dominating his first year and a half in the minors. Painter made his way through the Clearwater Threshers and Jersey Shore BlueClaws before ending the year with the Reading Fightin Phils. With all three teams, Painter finished his 2022 season with a 6–2 record, 1.56 ERA, 0.887 WHIP, and 155 strikeouts over 103.2 innings pitched.
Painter was ranked inside the top 15 prospects in baseball heading into 2023; however, disaster struck Painter as he was diagnosed with a proximal ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow. The right-hander tried to work around the injury, but he eventually had Tommy John Surgery, putting a hold on any potential MLB debut.
Despite the TJ surgery, Painter worked through the injuries, making it back for the start of the 2025 minor league season, but coming back to normality wasn’t easy. Painter posted a 5-8 record and a 5.26 ERA over 26 starts, totaling 123 strikeouts over 118 innings. The pitch speed was still there, as well as the pitch mix, but batters were working walks, and the hits followed.
So Painter went to work in the offseason, worked on his control, and headed into spring training with an opportunity to win a spot on the main roster. Over four spring training starts, Painter posted a 2.31 ERA, struck out eight batters, and showed the improved control that was needed to get to the Majors.
Needing a fifth starter with an injured Wheeler to start the season, Painter got the call on the bump in the Phillies fifth game of the season against the Washington Nationals, and did he deliver.
From the jump, Painter looked ready to go, dropping two early strikeouts in the first, and eventually settled in after that. His fastball looked as good as it’s been, his curveball was dominating the zone and sent multiple Nats down throughout the night, and his slider and changeup backed up the heat and made him look unstoppable for multiple innings.
When it was all said and done, Painter wrapped up 5.1 innings of work with eight strikeouts, allowing just one earned run on four hits and one walk. Painter totaled 84 pitches, with 57 of them being strikes.
He was fantastic, rightfully deserving a standing ovation from the Philly faithful, and after the Phillies held onto the 3-2 win, earning him his first major league win.
“Topped out at 99, first pitch strikes, had 20 or 21, but what he did was change speed behind the count,” Rob Thomson said after the Phillies’ 3-2 win over the Nationals on Tuesday night. “He got back into counts, landed his curveball, changeup, and slider. If we can keep him healthy, this guy is going to be really good for a long time.”
Getting the young arms that the team and the fanbase have been waiting for gave this team a much-needed bump that they’ve been missing through the first week of the season. Coming into Tuesday night’s game, the Phillies were on a three-game losing streak, with a rookie making his debut on the mound.
Painter’s start rallied the Phillies to a win, and Thomson confirmed that thought, speaking about how the young guys have brought the energy in the dugout during the first week of the season.
“We’ve been waiting a while for this, so have our players,” Thomson said. “Whether it’s Painter, or [Justin] Crawford, or any of these young guys. When those young guys come up, there’s a lot of excitement, and guys root for them because they remember their first appearance in the big leagues. They were really excited.”
Lo and behold, the players agreed as postgame, new Phillies outfielder Adolis Garcia called Painter a star, and the man behind the plate for Painter’s first start, J.T. Realmuto, was impressed with Painter’s debut and the confidence he displayed on the mound.
“His location was great, he was able to mix his speeds really well and have his breaking balls going for strikes,” Relamuto said. “That’s a really good lefty-heavy lineup, that’s really hard to strike guys out. So for him to have eight strikeouts was very impressive. You would’ve never known that that was his first start.”
Painter seemed as cool as could be after debuting in front of 40,000+ fans. After the start, he spoke about how he took in the moment of the mound, and made sure to acknowledge the rocking atmosphere of Citizens Bank Park.
“Crowd showed up tonight. Just kind of soaked all of it in, and I could have drawn it out much better,” Painter said. “They showed up all night and kind of rallied behind me.”
Thomson said it best: if he stays healthy, they have a star in Painter. Pairing him alongside an already stacked rotation of Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Nola, and a soon-to-be returning Wheeler is honestly unfair. It breathes a fresh breath of air to all Phillies fans and the Phillies organization that Painter is here to stay on the main roster and ready to dominate for years to come.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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