Painter competes with nasty changeup that 'elevates the whole arsenal'

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham appreciates Andrew Painter's “high aptitude” for pitching.

Cotham knows that nobody is going to be perfect all the time. Sometimes a pitcher has to grind to survive.

“The hallmark of a great pitcher is the ability to take that in, still compete and have a really quick reset in the dugout,” Cotham said before Painter pitched in Friday afternoon’s 11-8 Grapefruit League victory over Baltimore at BayCare Ballpark. “Be coherent, understand what happened, have a conversation with the catcher, me, and then go out and maybe make a small adjustment on ... ‘Hey, the ball is doing this today. We’re not going to fix it, but we’re going to plan around it. We’re going to use it.’

“He’s done a really nice job of balancing the work and the competition, which to me is No. 1 for a starter. You’ve got to be pushing the envelope a little bit. You’ve got to be practicing and working on things.”

Painter (No. 2 Phillies prospect, No. 28 overall per MLB Pipeline) allowed three runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings in his third spring start. He walked none and struck out four, getting 11 swings and misses on five different pitches. Painter had good stuff, but he fell behind in the third inning when he allowed his runs.

“It causes me to get a little aim-y with everything,” Painter said about falling behind. “It causes everything to slow down. Everything moves better when it’s quick, when it’s upbeat, when the tempo is fast. It caused me to be a little aim-y. I’ve just got to trust myself.”

Being too “aim-y” accounted for a dip in fastball velocity, he said.

But Painter still pushed the envelope in what time he had. He threw a 2-2 changeup to Orioles shortstop José Barrero in the second inning. Painter missed his spot, throwing the pitch up and in. Barrero fouled it back.

Garrett Stubbs called for a different pitch. Painter shook his catcher. Stubbs proceeded to cycle through every pitch in Painter’s arsenal, until he landed on the changeup again.

Interesting, Stubbs thought.

“It feels good,” Painter explained. “I feel comfortable throwing it to both sides. I feel good going right on right, and that just elevates the heater, too. It elevates the whole arsenal when I have that working.”

Barrero swung and missed at the back-to-back changeup for strike three.

“The fact that he has that much confidence in it to throw it, right on right, to do it twice in a row after a miss, that opens up so many things,” Stubbs said. “As a hitter, when guys miss with a certain pitch and it’s not their go-to pitch, you’re like, ‘OK, he’s not throwing that again.’”

Painter threw 216 changeups last season in the Minor Leagues. He threw only 21 to righties. He threw back-to-back changeups to a righty only once: July 30 to Cardinals prospect Blaze Jordan.

“It’s a great pitch,” Stubbs said. “Some guys can do it. Most guys can’t. You look at reports. Guys aren’t throwing right-on-right changeups or left-on-left changeups all that often, especially when it’s your fourth pitch. But maybe it’s not his fourth pitch anymore. I don’t know. After seeing what he did today, I would say that’s a pitch he can use pretty often with the way it was coming out of his hand.”

Basically, if a right-hander hitter needs to think about a high-90s fastball, a sweeper, a slider and changeup ...

“I don’t want to do it,” Stubbs said.

“The ball was moving, it was firm,” Orioles second baseman Jeremiah Jackson said. “Missing barrels.”

Painter might get two more Grapefruit League starts before the end of camp on March 23, depending on how the Phillies set their schedule. It would be two more opportunities to learn. But Painter has looked like a big leaguer so far, even with his struggles in the third inning on Friday. He will be on Philadelphia’s Opening Day roster on March 26.

“Him doing his best is plenty good enough,” Cotham said. “I’m not even sure what perfect is with anyone. If you just do a good job, you throw good pitches and you do that consistently, you’re going to be pretty good. He’s got all the ingredients. The more he understands himself -- the big leagues will teach you a lot -- he’s only going to get better.”