PHILADELPHIA — Andrew Painter threw five shutout innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley Wednesday, in what will likely be his penultimate appearance of the season.

The Phillies’ top prospect will start again next Wednesday, with a cap of five innings, manager Rob Thomson said Thursday.

“It was a lot better than it’s been,” Thomson said. “Fastball command was a lot better. The stuff was really, really good. It was a good bounce back.”

The IronPigs’ season ends Sept. 21. They are 5.5 games back from a chance to advance to the International League playoffs.

Painter has started 25 games, 21 of them in Allentown, with a 5-5 record and a 5.35 ERA. He’s at 114 innings, a jump from 103.2 in 2022, his last before Tommy John surgery on July 25, 2023.

He won’t be bouncing to the big leagues, the Phillies’ top prospect and one of the top 10 talents in baseball unlikely to play a role for the big club. He could continue to throw in Clearwater at the team’s minor league complex – “We haven’t gotten there yet with any of those guys that will stay in that camp after their season is over,” Thomson said.

But given his ineffectiveness and inning count, it’s highly unlikely that a pitcher once billed as having a chance to be in the bigs by July will get there before 2026.

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The Phillies wheel-of-outfielders – a much more fun game the last month than it has been in quite some time – settled on Brandon Marsh Thursday night against Mets left-hander David Peterson.

Marsh is slashing .206/.301/.270 against lefties in 74 plate appearances. But he homered in his only at-bat against Peterson.

Marsh was 3-for-5 with a double in Wednesday’s 11-3 win, his first game back after missing two with the flu.

“He’s been swinging the bat so well, and he does have some numbers, not many at-bats, but the numbers are pretty good in those at-bats,” Thomson said. “And he just had a couple of days off, so he feels good.”

Marsh is batting .500 (19-for-38) in his last 10 games.

Red-hot Harrison Bader started in center with Nick Castellanos in right. Castellanos is 6-for-15 against Peterson. Max Kepler, who had a career-high five RBIs Wednesday, sat against the lefty, as has been the recent (and very prosperous) plan.

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NOTES >> Trea Turner (hamstring) worked in the pool Thursday to test out his injury. “He says he feels really good, surprisingly,” Thomson reported. … Thomson entered Friday’s game with 336 regular-season wins, one shy of Larry Bowa for 10th in franchise history. … The Phillies begin a three-game set with Kansas City Friday. Michael Lorenzen (5-10, 4.63 ERA) will return to the site of his 2023 no-hitter. He’ll be opposed by Walker Buehler in his team debut.