Lehigh Valley IronPigs starting pitcher Andrew Painter, the Phillies’ top-ranked prospect, locked into a showdown with Spencer Jones, the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect, in the fourth inning of a Triple-A game earlier this month at Coca-Cola Park.
Painter, making his 14th start since missing two seasons because of Tommy John surgery, blew a 97-mph fastball by Jones to get into a favorable 1-2 count.
But Jones dug in. He took a pair of balls before fouling two more off. He then drove the third full-count offering, another 97-mph fastball, off the wall in right-center field for a double.
“It was a good battle,” Painter said. “[Jones] fouled off a lot of good pitches. He put a great swing on that 3-2. Tip the cap. It was like two balls in [off the plate]. He muscled it off the wall. I couldn’t believe it. He was on tonight, stayed on a lot of good pitches, fouled off good pitches. He got me on a curveball, changeup and fastball.
“They get paid. He’s a good ballplayer. We’ll see him in New York pretty soon.”
Jones got the better of Painter on that night with a first-inning single on a changeup, his fourth-inning double on a fastball and fifth-inning, bloop single on a curveball.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders outfielder still is striking out at a high rate. He fanned in his final two at-bats in that same game against IronPigs relievers. He had three swings and misses and four foul balls in those three at-bats against Painter, but all three hits came with two strikes, so there is progress.
Painter also is showing progress, but the Jones at-bats highlighted perhaps the one alarming trend: Left-handed opponents are batting .318 against Painter with 14 extra-base hits, 12 walks and 28 strikeouts in 124 plate appearances.
Right-handers are hitting only .191 with 10 extra-base hits, eight walks and 36 strikeouts in 119 plate appearances.
Lefties hit only .163 with no homers in 163 plate appearances in 2022, his first full season in the pros.
Painter helps himself by being a good self analyst at age 22.
“I’m in the zone a lot,” he said, “so I’m a pretty big ambush candidate. I have a hard fastball. I use it a lot, so that’s the approach a lot: ‘Get on the heater around the zone.’
“I’ve struggled with lefties this year. My changeup has been something that is very good for me against lefties. I had a blister so I couldn’t throw the changeup in a couple outings, and it hurt me.”
Painter did not have a blister during his July 3 outing against the RailRiders, whose lefties were 6-for-13 with three runs and three RBIs against him. Three hits, three runs and three RBIs came in a four-run fourth inning after the 6-foot-7 righty cruised through the first three scoreless innings with five strikeouts on 49 pitches.
He threw 30 pitches in the fourth.
“Flashes of good and bad,” Painter said. “That’s kind of been the whole thing this year. I haven’t put together a full, complete outing. Moving forward, I’m trying to figure out how I can minimize that damage and keep those innings from kind of spiraling. That hasn’t happened for a full outing yet this year.
“At times I lost the fastball and changeup in the fourth, but in the first three innings I thought the changeup was my best put-away pitch. We’ve been working on it this year, a new grip in spring training and just kind of messing with it to see what that finished product should be.”
Painter has allowed more than one earned run in five of his 14 Triple-A starts, including a four-spot in the third inning of a June 10 game against Worcester.
But the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2021 gave an encouraging sign by getting out of the four-run fourth against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after allowing the first four batters to reach base, then posting a shutdown inning in the fifth.
Painter’s own standards are high. He expects to not give up four-run innings. He doesn’t expect to throw 30 pitches in any inning. He expects to go deep in games and have control of his four pitches (fastball, slider, curveball, changeup) in an outing.
The Florida native has not satisfied his expectations this season.
“I feel like I’ve competed,” he said. “It’s just those innings here and there. There have been a lot of outings where I’ve had to grind. The more and more that it happens, the better I’m going to be able to handle it.
“This year hasn’t gone the way I’ve wanted it to. I’m still building. I haven’t gone six [innings] yet this year. It’s a lot of little things. I had to dig deep after that rough fourth inning with 30 pitches. But I got through the fifth to take an extra inning off the bullpen.”
April Gamiz/The Morning Call
IronPigs pitcher Andrew Painter could possibly get called up to the Phillies later this month. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Painter’s mental toughness also has shown in dealing with weather issues in four of his five home starts. He’s adjusted his routine to include ping pong and a stationary bike to stay active while waiting out rain delays.
He’ll have to display that same fortitude to block out the noise of fans calling for his promotion. The Phillies are considering what to do with their fifth starter slot until Aaron Nola returns from injury at some point in August.
The club sent down Mick Abel, who will return to the IronPigs rotation on Thursday in Syracuse. Taijuan Walker started for Philadelphia on Tuesday in San Francisco against the Giants after nine consecutive relief appearances. Painter is in play for the next time the parent club needs a fifth starter on July 22.
Abel made tremendous strides from last season until this point. The Phillies know what they have in Walker from his 54 starts the last three seasons with an ERA around 5.
Painter is intriguing, but he admittedly is not where he wants to be. He has pitched five innings in only six of his 14 minor league appearances this season entering Tuesday’s start in Syracuse. He is expected to start Sunday’s series finale before being a spectator at the annual MLB Futures Game next week in Atlanta.
After that remains a mystery. The Phillies will be closer to an answer after Walker’s start.
Regardless, Painter will continue to chase his expectations, which includes getting left-handed hitters out more frequently.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com