The results looked encouraging for Andrew Painter on Saturday afternoon in Clearwater, even if the outing itself wasn’t flawless.
Andrew Painter is up to five scoreless innings on the spring. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
The 22-year-old Phillies pitching prospect worked through three scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays in his second Grapefruit League appearance of the spring. Painter didn’t record a strikeout, but he limited damage effectively and showed the kind of poise the Phillies want to see as he works toward establishing himself as a major league starter.
With the outing, Painter has now thrown five scoreless innings across two spring starts.
A shaky start that quickly stabilized
Painter vs. Straw | Baseball Savant
Painter’s afternoon didn’t begin smoothly.
Facing Myles Straw to open the game, he issued a four-pitch walk, none of which came particularly close to the strike zone. The early command issues resembled the start of his previous outing against the Yankees, where he also needed time to settle in.
But after the walk, Painter responded quickly.
He required just five pitches to finish the inning, escaping without allowing a run. A deep fly ball from Jesús Sánchez traveled 99.2 mph off the bat but stayed in the park thanks to strong defense in right-center field.
Painter then took matters into his own hands by picking off Straw at first base, displaying quick feet and a confident move that erased the early baserunner.
Moments later, Eloy Jiménez broke his bat on a 97-mph fastball jammed inside, producing an easy groundout to shortstop Trea Turner.
It was a composed recovery from a rough opening at-bat.
Realmuto helps manage the second inning
The second inning began with Daulton Varsho, one of the more dangerous hitters in Toronto’s lineup.
Behind the plate, veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto played a subtle but important role. After a pair of early balls put Painter in a difficult count, Realmuto appeared to engage briefly with home plate umpire James Hoye. Shortly afterward, a borderline curveball was called a strike, helping Painter get back into the at-bat.
Painter followed with one of his best pitches of the outing — a 96-mph fastball on the lower edge of the zone that Varsho swung through.
He finished the at-bat moments later with a back-foot slider, his first slider of the day.
Mixing the arsenal
Painter continued experimenting with his pitch mix throughout the inning.
Facing Tyler Heineman, he introduced his first changeup of the outing. The pitch produced an immediate swing and miss, showing promising deception despite missing its intended location slightly.
He finished the plate appearance with a curveball that resulted in a soft fly ball to the opposite field.
Toronto managed only one hit against Painter — a bloop single from Nathan Lukes that dropped behind the infield. Even that at-bat nearly ended differently, as Painter almost induced an out with an elevated fastball on a 3-1 count.
The loudest contact of the day
The hardest hit ball of the outing came in the third inning.
Shortstop Josh Kasevich launched a deep drive that traveled roughly 395 feet, but outfielder Justin Crawford made a leaping catch near the warning track in left-center field to keep Painter’s scoreless outing intact.
It was the type of swing that could have easily changed the stat line.
Still, Painter handled the rest of the inning efficiently, finishing his outing with a pair of quick at-bats. Both hitters were retired on just two pitches each, including a broken-bat flyout and a soft ground ball.
Strong results despite limited strikeouts
By the end of the afternoon, Painter’s final line read:
3.0 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts — 34 pitches (21 strikes).
Although he didn’t generate many swings and misses, he consistently produced weak contact. Of the nine balls put in play, the majority were soft grounders or routine fly balls.
Across his two spring starts, Painter has only recorded one strikeout in five innings, but he has also generated several groundouts and broken-bat pop-ups — results that are just as effective at producing outs.
Next step in Painter’s buildup
The Phillies will likely continue increasing Painter’s workload in his next outing.
His third spring start, expected later this week against either the Blue Jays or Orioles in Clearwater, could extend him to four innings as he builds toward a regular-season role.
While Saturday’s performance wasn’t dominant, it offered something equally valuable: proof that Painter can navigate trouble, adjust quickly, and still deliver clean results.
For a young pitcher preparing to establish himself at the major league level, that kind of maturity can matter just as much as the radar gun.
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