Portrait of a prospect: Painter's MLB path from the beginning

The Phillies haven’t had a pitching prospect like Andrew Painter since Cole Hamels more than 20 years ago.

Hamels couldn't have been more hyped. Then, he won 2008 World Series and NLCS MVP honors, made four All-Star teams, finished top eight in NL Cy Young voting four times and threw a no-hitter at Wrigley Field in his final start for the Phillies in 2015. He is 11th all-time in Phillies history in WAR, according to Baseball Reference.

The Phils believe Painter can have a similar impact on the organization, with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski often comparing him to Justin Verlander and Josh Beckett. It’s why they’ve refused to trade him the past few years. It's why Painter, who is MLB Pipeline's No. 28 prospect, made the Phillies' Opening Day roster this year, and will make his MLB debut on Tuesday against the Nationals.

How did he get here? We asked the people who knew him along the way. We started nearly every conversation by asking them this: 20 years from now, if Painter has the career that you hope he has, what is the story you will tell?

HIGH SCHOOL, 2018-21: 'THE BEGINNING OF THE LEGEND'

Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a baseball powerhouse. It played in national tournaments and competed for and won high school state championships throughout Painter’s four years. As a freshman, Painter pitched behind Christian Scott, who played at the University of Florida before the Mets selected him in the fifth round of the 2021 Draft; Skylar Gonzalez, who began his college career at West Virginia University; and Roberto Peña, who began his college career at Florida.

Everybody recognized Painter’s talent early.

Alan Kunkel was Calvary Christian’s baseball coach during Painter’s freshman and sophomore seasons. Alex Norris was Calvary’s pitching coach all four years.

NORRIS: We’ve had a lot of big leaguers’ kids on our teams. I remember the very first time I saw Andy throw a baseball. He was 14 and pudgy. Joe Girardi was at our practices because his son, Dante, was on our team. I knew Andy was pretty good, and he had some success in middle school, but the ball just came out of his hand different. So, I watched him throw for the first time. I didn’t say a word. Joe was working with our catchers. He walked up to me afterward. I said, “Joe, that’s different.” Joe goes, “He’s going to throw 100 mph one day.” I could tell it was special, but when Joe came over and validated that to me, it was pretty exciting.

GIRARDI: He was a freshman when my son was a sophomore on the team that won the state title. And I saw him, and he was their fourth starter. And I looked at my wife and I said, “That’s a first-round pick in three or four years.” What was amazing to me was the command of four pitches that he had as a freshman in high school. And he was tall, and you knew that he was going to get thicker and bigger and stronger, and he did.

KUNKEL: Everybody liked Andy. He just kept everybody loose in the dugout. He’d walk into the dugout with a stuffed animal backpack. I remember we ended up losing a game [in the Team USA tournament in Cary, N.C., in 2018] and Andy pitched against John Curtis [Christian School] in Game 4. They’re the defending state champions in Louisiana. Andy rolls out, he’s 85-89 mph the whole game with a Bugs Bunny changeup, and he doesn’t give up his first hit until the top of the seventh with two outs. And that was kind of where ... “Hey, Andy, you’ve arrived.” Like, he’s one of the dudes now. And then he just took off.

KUNKEL: I think that year he only threw 30 innings. But they were impactful innings. He pitched in the district championship that year as a freshman, which isn’t ideal. “Hey, Andy, here you go, brother. Go get us into a regional.” And he went out and did it, and he was unfazed. And that just kind of became the beginning of the legend of Andy Painter at Calvary.

CALVARY CHRISTIAN CATCHER BEN ROZENBLUM: We’re playing the regional final. It’s prom night. We’re on the road. All the guys are like, "How are we going to get to prom?" Well, let’s just go win this game. Andy and I had a side conversation. He said, "Hey, you and me, we’re going to go to work and we’re going to be in and out of this game real quick." I think Andy gave up maybe one hit. He struck out a dozen. And we were in and out of that game in what seemed like an hour. Quick work, quick win and the guys on the team that somehow found prom dates, we showered at the school where we played and we got to prom.

We all called Andy “Baby” because of how jovial and happy and how easygoing he was. But when it came down to it, he carried his craft with such high regard.

KUNKEL: I thought he’d be a high pick in the Draft, even as a freshman. You don’t find a lot of 6-foot-8 kids at 15 years old pounding the strike zone. It wasn’t like he was 94-95 [mph] as a freshman and you see the arm talent. He was 85-88, but it was three pitches in the zone.

NORRIS: His sophomore year, he was sitting upper-80s to 90-92. His delivery was so good that he didn’t really have that one pitch in a game where he jumped to 96. We started to see more 92-94 at the beginning of his junior year. By the end of his junior year, he sat in the 94-95 range. He always made these incremental jumps those first three years. But he made a big jump his senior year when he was sitting 97-99. We had a couple 100s, too.

Before Brian Kaplan became the Phillies’ assistant pitching coach in 2022, he co-founded Cressey Sports Performance, the highly regarded South Florida training facility, which has been the offseason home to Verlander, Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber and others. Painter trained at Cressey throughout high school.

KAPLAN: [Former Orioles pitcher] Chris Tillman was rehabbing at our facility one time. He found out Andy was a big deal, so he asked me questions about him. “What’s he like? Is he a legit first-rounder?” Stuff like that. I said, “Yeah, he’s good. He’s the real deal.” I said, “He’s got a unique, quirky, outgoing personality.” A week or two later, Andy comes up to me and starts asking questions about Chris. “Who is that guy over there? Is that Chris Tillman?” Yeah, that’s Tillman. He’s like, “Years ago, I went to an autograph signing and my mom had me take a picture with him. I’ve still got the picture.” Now, I met Andy when he was 12 or 13. He was kind of round and chubby. Andy brought in the picture [to Cressey] and it’s Andy, but like a rounder Andy, and a beanpole Chris Tillman. And then fast forward five years later and Andy is a bean pole, too. He showed Tillman the picture and we all had a good laugh.

Painter played varsity basketball through his junior year, but his coaches made him quit because they did not want to jeopardize his baseball career. Cilk McSweeney was Calvary’s head basketball coach. Steve Allen was Calvary’s assistant coach.

McSWEENEY: He wanted to play his senior year, but we were top 25 in the country. We had [NBA 2023 ninth-overall pick] Taylor Hendricks on that team. Andy wasn’t going to play. I told his mom, “Listen, Andy really wants to play, but I don’t think he’s thinking about his future right now.” It was kind of weird, because maybe he was looking for me to tell him no, and he knew that was the right answer.

ALLEN: During Andy’s junior year, I still played with the guys. Andy is a big kid. I’m 6-foot-10. I played ACC basketball [at Clemson] and pro ball. I did a move and I bumped him. He fell. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I gave a $100 million man a concussion.” I’m like, “I don’t care about anything else, man. I just hope he didn’t fall on his arm.” I rung his bell, but thankfully I didn’t give him a concussion. But he came back the next day and said, “Hey, man, let’s go.” I was like, “Andy, man, it’s time to retire from basketball.” But the year he didn’t play, he was our No. 1 water boy. We had the highest-profile water boy in the country.

McSWEENEY: He would still come to practice every once in a while and run with us. But this kid is so mature. You know, kids will come back every once in a while, say what’s up to the coaches and then go hang with the players in the locker room. Andy would say what’s up to the players, then hang in the coaches’ office. The last time he was here, he texted me and said, “Ask all the coaches what they want for acai bowls.” He brought all the coaches acai bowls. That’s how Andy is. They don’t make too many kids like Andy, man.

Painter went 6-1 with a 0.31 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings during his senior season at Calvary Christian, earning Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year Award. Painter’s senior year did not start smoothly, however. He got rocked in his season debut against Spruce Creek High School.

PHILLIES AREA SCOUT VICTOR GOMEZ: You had to think there were probably 60-70 scouts at that outing.

NORRIS: There were some GMs at that game, but we had a lot of attention at every game. It was 10 or 12 phone calls every day, talking to area scouts and cross checkers. [Then-Nationals general manager] Mike Rizzo came to a preseason intrasquad. That stuff doesn’t happen very often.

SPRUCE CREEK COACH MATT CLEVELAND: A few days before that game, I told the guys, “Look, I’m going to give you the machine really hard in the cage, and then I’m going to go 30 feet and throw almost as hard as I can. We’ve got three days to prepare. The first day might suck, but the bottom line is you’ve got to be ready to barrel 95.” We led off the game with a hit. The next guy grounded to third, but they made an error. Our next guy doubled. Our cleanup hitter Preston Wetherell homered in the third inning.

WETHERELL: We knew coming into the game he was one of the best. So, for three days we just prepared, prepared, prepared. We all bought in. Honestly, going into the game we were like, if he shoves, he shoves. That’s what he’s supposed to do. And if we actually hit him, awesome. I just got a fastball, and I didn’t miss it. I knew it when I hit it. When good velo comes into a good swing and you hit the barrel, it’s going to go a long way. I still pull out the video to this day, showing people my biggest accomplishment, that’s for sure.

PHILLIES ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER OF AMATEUR SCOUTING BRIAN BARBER: It might have been the worst game he threw as an amateur. You saw the body, the delivery, the arm action and the stuff that had a chance to be really good. But you saw him battle through adversity. And that’s one of the things we don’t always get to see. We were talking to people afterwards about how hungry and motivated he was to put that potential together and be as good as he could be following a bad outing. He just dominated the rest of the year. But teams fell off him pretty quick based off that one outing that happened in February.

CLEVELAND: The cool thing about Andy -- I will say this -- he handled it with class. He’s such a good kid, man. There’s not a lot of that anymore. I talked to him a little bit on the field. We’re glad to see he’s super successful.

BARBER: I think it helped him become the pitcher that he is. It motivated him to become more than just a big guy with a good arm. He became a really good pitcher with a good arm.

KAPLAN: He came to the gym afterward. I’m expecting to see this defeated, sunken kid, like, “I just ruined everything. That was my only chance.” You know how high school kids can be. He was like, “I didn’t execute my pitches. I think I learned a lot from it. I want to get a little better warmup routine, so I’m better prepared for the first inning.” It took me back a little bit. It’s a unique ability to dissect that outing.

GOMEZ: I’ve only scouted for a short time, but as I’ve gained confidence in the process, I know that when you have a guy fly into town to watch one of the players in your area, if you’re sitting there that day hoping he does well, that means you may be reaching for this kid a little bit. Even on a bad day with Andy, if I had Brian Barber fly into town, Brian’s still going to look at me and say, “OK, Vic, I see what you’re thinking here.” When those guys flew in, I didn’t have to worry about Andy. It was like, “OK, they’re here to watch Andy. Let me just make sure I’ve got the right place and the right time.” Just don’t mess that up.

Toward the end of his senior year, we were obviously heavy on him. Calvary Christian had back-to-back games toward the end. I was there the first day watching Irv Carter, who the Blue Jays took [in the fifth round of the 2021 Draft]. Andy was set to pitch the next day. So Brian Barber is coming in, [Phillies national scouting coordinator] David Crowson is coming in. I look over at the dugout and Andy is in full catcher’s gear. In my head, I’m like, “What’s going on here?” He’s 6-foot-8 and he’s got the whole getup on. He’s got tape on his wrists. I start smiling, but as a scout I’m also like, “He’s not going to catch, is he?” I’ve got my director coming in town tomorrow. I need him ready to rock and roll. Sure enough, Andy jogs out there. He takes throws from the outfield. The bunting part starts. They roll it to him and he tosses down to first. He caught bullpens in between innings. He goes through it. At one point I stopped saying to myself, “Oh, man, what’s he doing?” because it was just a joy to watch him. He was a kid out there having fun. He threw in front of 30 scouts every time he threw in high school. Some guys you saw things speed up on them. Things slowed down for him. The next day he had one of his best outings of the spring.

Barber still has the four-second clip on his phone. It is Painter, in full catcher’s gear, barehanding a ground ball up the first-base line and making an athletic throw to first base.

BARBER: This guy was way more athletic than I ever gave him credit for. It was kind of cool to see a pitcher as good as he was, as highly regarded as he was, going out on the field and having fun and showing his athleticism. The fact that he almost looked like a catcher that we would be interested in -- you don’t get to see that from pitchers very often nowadays.

CROWSON: Victor says, “I shouldn’t show you this, but I am.” He pulls up a video on his phone. He says, “This is yesterday.” I said, “That’s outstanding.” I loved it. He’s pitching tomorrow, but he took infield in full catcher’s gear before the first game of the playoffs. It’s a little bit out of the norm, especially for kids nowadays. Everybody is geared for one position. Or it’s, “This guy is pitching tomorrow. He’s got to get his mind right.” He’s just out there playing the game and having fun. You go see 10 guys and none of them are going to do that, but Andy’s just out there being one of the guys and having fun. It was pretty cool.

The Phillies had the 13th overall pick in the 2021 Draft. In the weeks leading up to the Draft, the Phillies narrowed their focus to three players they thought might fall to them, including Painter.

GOMEZ: We have meetings before the Draft. Area scouts give presentations about the players in their areas. They probably last about an hour and a half. Usually, you’re spending a better chunk on the top players. I could spend about 30 minutes on just three guys. But it’ll vary. For Andy, I went through my spiel with the other scouts in my region the night before my presentation. One of the veteran guys -- he’s taught me a lot, I love him -- goes, “Dang, Vic. Are you going to use up the whole time on just one?” I said, “You know what? This is Andy Painter. I think this one’s going to take a little bit of time. I just want to make sure that we’re crisp on it.” Because he had shown so much on the mound, a lot of the questions asked of me were about his makeup, his character, what I saw on the field -- pitch to pitch, how he handled those moments when an umpire didn’t give him a strike. Andy absolutely blew me away. Not just how he spoke about himself and his character, but the way he thought about pitching was very advanced.

CROWSON: I think some teams were a little nervous about the kid because they saw him get hit early in the year. They were a little nervous because he seemed to throw his breaking ball to get hitters out, and not use his fastball as much. But as the year went on, when Brian and I saw him in a playoff game at the end, he pitched with his fastball and dominated with his fastball. That’s what we wanted to see, really. After that game, we were like, “OK, this is going to be good.” I remember when I was with the Marlins, we took José Fernández. The thing that always stood out to me with guys like that is during the game they could make an adjustment and make a pitch out of nowhere. Those advanced ones know how to make a pitch when they need to. I remember watching José in a playoff game. It’s like the sixth inning and the hitter actually squared him up pretty good the first two ABs. He had him in a 2-2 count, and out of nowhere he threw what you would grade as a Major League changeup. He hadn’t thrown one the whole game. He just made it up. That’s some of the stuff that Andy has shown he can do.

One of the players the Phillies considered drafting was selected early. But when the 13th pick came, Barber said everybody in the Phils’ Draft room was in unanimous agreement. They wanted Painter.

BARBER: It was clear and evident that Painter was the right guy. And I can tell you this, I am very happy that Andy was the pick.

Painter signed a $3.9 million bonus on July 17.

GOMEZ: It’s crazy because Andy is the first player I signed. Andy was a double whammy for me because it was my first experience having a player like that, and he was a first-rounder that we felt could help the Phillies. When those things line up like that, it’s a great feeling. It gives you a new box score to check every night before you go to bed. You don’t see those guys anymore, but you always think about those guys.

ROOKIE BALL, CLEARWATER, 2021: 'ELECTRIC'

Painter’s first bullpen sessions at Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Fla., drew crowds of Phillies prospects. He debuted with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Phillies on Sept. 3. He made four starts, striking out 12 in six scoreless innings.

Micah Yonamine caught Painter’s final start on Sept. 17. Painter struck out five and allowed one hit in two innings against the Blue Jays.

YONAMINE: It was typical. He dominated. I remember he gave up a hard-hit double off the wall. The batter [Darlin Guzman] almost seemed surprised that he hit it.

I caught one of Andy’s first bullpen sessions when he got here. It was electric. It was the best fastball I’ve ever seen. He commanded everything, which is unusual at that age. But I think what I’ll remember most is what a cool dude he was. We played together again in [Single-A] Clearwater. He bought a little gas grill. We’d go out in the hotel parking lot where we were staying. He’d cook burgers for everybody. He’d cook steaks. He’d shoot a text to everybody. “Hey, let’s meet up in the parking lot for burgers.” It’s just different for a player of that caliber. He doesn’t have to be like that, but he’s like everyone else.

Before Matt Ellmyer became a High-A Jersey Shore pitching coach in 2024 and a Triple-A Lehigh Valley pitching coach in 2025, he worked at Cressey Sports Performance.

ELLMYER: The offseason going into '22, we had a couple punters that would be out there at Cressey. Guys would be punting on the turf field. It wasn’t uncommon to look out the window and see them. One time I looked out the window and it was Andy. He’s the best punter that I know. He could be a Division I punter. I think the looseness, the fun that he has, combined with the focus and competitiveness that he has, leads him to a lot of good things.

SINGLE-A CLEARWATER, 2022: 'BEST BASEBALL PLAYER I’VE EVER SEEN'

Painter went 1-1 with a 1.40 ERA in nine starts with the Threshers. He struck out 69 and walked 16 in 38 2/3 innings.

Anthony Quirion caught each of those starts.

QUIRION: He was just so ice cold out there. It didn’t seem like he ever got rattled. So calm, so mature, right from the get-go. He trusted his stuff more than anyone I’ve ever seen. The rare times he got in a little bit of trouble there was no panic. He just worked his way out of it. It was just a super calm presence on the mound.

How I describe Andy to people is, he’s one of those crafty right-handers that throws 87 mph and paints the corners. Well, he does that, except he throws 98 mph. He’s special. He’s the best baseball player I’ve ever seen. He’d throw a first-pitch fastball and guys wouldn’t swing. They’d step out. They were like, “Wow, this is for real.” They’d step back in, same result. No swing. “Dang.”

CLEARWATER PITCHING COACH VIC DÍAZ: He’s a kid at heart. It’s the small things, like being so excited to pitch in an R2-D2 jersey in Clearwater. For him, it’s fun. He has such an appreciation for everything. He has fun playing the game. He loves every bit about it. He loves everything about the atmosphere. It’s special to see that. I just loved the way he competed with himself every day. The way he went about his bullpens. It was about his preparation and what he needed to do to be the best version of himself that night. It wasn’t just about picking up K's. The more you’re around him, you realize that’s what the special ones do. That’s how they go about it every single day.

HIGH-A JERSEY SHORE, 2022: 'A FIGHT OF TITANS'

The Phillies promoted Painter to High-A Jersey Shore in June. He went 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA in eight starts. He struck out 49 and walked seven in 36 2/3 innings.

Herbert Iser caught four of those starts.

ISER: The first time I caught him in a game I came back to the dugout and I said, “This guy is going to make at least $200 million in his career. At least.” He’s incredible. I was his roommate, too, so I could see the difference. Off the field, he’s young. On the field, he’s 35. The thing I liked about him is his confidence. We’d go into meetings, I’d say, “Who do you want to know specifically?” He’d say, “Just tell me who’s a righty and who’s a lefty and I’ll take care of the rest.” It was like, “I’ve got my stuff. They got theirs. I’m going to go with my strengths.”

JERSEY SHORE PITCHING COACH BRAD BERGESEN: In his first start [June 12 vs. Hudson Valley], the hitters got to him a little bit. [Five hits, three runs, three walks and four strikeouts in three innings.] You could see the game speed up on him, maybe for the first time. It was little things, like holding runners. Small parts of the game. What really impressed me is I thought it might take him a while to learn these new things, but as soon as he identifies the things he needs to do to be better, it’s just instant. It’s like the next game, it’s just there. The baseball aptitude is special.

Painter faced top Yankees prospect Jasson Domínguez on Aug. 6. Domínguez went 0-for-3 with one strikeout.

Arturo De Freitas caught Painter that day.

DE FREITAS: Painter was smiling. Domínguez sees Painter smiling and he asks me, “Is this your No. 1 prospect? Is this the kid who signed for a lot of money?” Painter wanted to challenge him. He threw a fastball. Domínguez missed. [Domínguez] told me, “Tell him to throw another fastball.” OK, fastball in. He threw a fastball in on his hands. Foul ball. He threw a slider. He took it. I was like, “Watch out. Be ready. I’m going again [with a fastball].” I targeted it really high. He threw it, swing and miss, strikeout. I’m like, “I told you, Papi. He’s a [f-----g] beast.” It was like a fight of titans. It was just a beautiful experience to catch him. He’s from a different planet. He’s out of this world.

DOUBLE-A READING, 2022: 'HIS FASTBALL HAD SO MUCH RIDE'

The Phillies promoted Painter to Double-A Reading in August. He went 2-1 with a 2.54 ERA in five starts. He struck out 37 and walked two in 28 1/3 innings.

Iser caught all five starts.

ISER: He would throw a fastball to the hitter’s chest. The batter would swing and miss. He would turn to the umpire and ask, “Is that at the top of the zone?” I’m like, “The top of the zone? What the hell? That’s almost at your head.” They thought it was a strike, but it was a ball because his fastball had so much ride to it.

DOUBLE-A PITCHING COACH MATT HOCKENBERRY: He’s a 19-year-old kid coming up to Double-A, but it’s the confidence he had in himself. That’s the thing that stood out the most. It’s just the confidence and sheer will to win and compete. He knew how to use his stuff, so he went right after Double-A guys. In his first start [on Aug. 21 vs. Portland], he went six innings and struck out eight against a pretty good-hitting team. I thought it spoke to his aptitude of just being able to come in inning to inning and make adjustments. He’s able to verbalize what he’s going to do and what his plan is, and then he goes out and he executes.

SPRING TRAINING, 2023: 'THIS KID’S GOING TO BE A STAR'

Painter arrived at his first big league camp with his locker next to Zack Wheeler’s. It wasn’t by accident. Wheeler texted Phillies director of clubhouse services Phil Sheridan before pitchers and catchers reported to Clearwater. He asked Sheridan to put Painter next to him or Aaron Nola.

WHEELER: When I was with the Mets, we had a rectangular clubhouse with five lockers at the end. That’s where the starters were. The other ones were close. I liked that. We had a breakfast club where we sat there and talked and ate. If you’re young and you don’t want to ask somebody a question, you might feel more comfortable asking that question if you know the guys.

Dombrowski openly compared Painter to a young Verlander and Beckett, whom he had with the Tigers and Marlins. Painter opened camp with a chance to be the team’s No. 5 starter. If it happened, he would have become the first teenager to start for the Phillies since Mark Davis in 1980, and the first teenager to start in the big leagues since Julio Urías in 2016.

Painter faced Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh and John Hicks during a memorable live BP at Carpenter Complex on Feb. 22. Schwarber crushed a home run toward Hwy. 19. He removed his helmet and galloped up the first-base line. Painter looked skyward and laughed.

SCHWARBER: I was wowed by the stuff.

MARSH: It looked every bit of 110 [mph].

SCHWARBER: He’s smiling when I step in, then I step in and he’s locked in, it’s gone. That’s impressive. I was in college when I was 19. I don’t think I was that poised when I was in college.

Painter made his Grapefruit League debut on March 1 against the Twins in Fort Myers, Fla. He allowed three hits and one run. He struck out one. Then-Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said, “I believe this kid’s going to be a star.”

But Painter reported to camp the next day with a sore right elbow. The Phillies later announced that he had a sprained right proximal ulnar collateral ligament. They said he would try to rehab the injury, rather than have surgery.

REHAB, MARCH 2023 – NOV. 2024: 'THIS PROCESS IS GOING TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE'

Aaron Barrett was the Phillies’ Minor League complex and rehab pitching coordinator the past few years before becoming the Threshers manager this year. He made 95 appearances over four seasons with the Nationals (2014-15; '19-20) before finishing his career with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2022.

Barrett was uniquely qualified for the job. He suffered his first serious arm injury in 2015, requiring Tommy John surgery. During rehab, he broke the humerus in his right elbow in 2016. He rehabbed again, returning to the big leagues in 2019.

Barrett worked closely with Painter throughout his rehab.

BARRETT: He came down with the elbow injury and my first interaction with him [in March 2023], I told him, “Regardless of what happens, this process is going to change your life.” For me, deep down, whether he needed to have Tommy John right away or not -- at that time we didn’t know because we hadn’t seen the images yet. So I meant, regardless of what happens, the struggles and the failures that were coming soon during the rehab process, that whole process, if you allow it, can really change your entire perspective on how you look at things.

Painter started throwing off a bullpen mound again in July 2023, moving closer to facing live hitters. But during an up-down bullpen session at Carpenter Complex, something didn’t feel right.

He had Tommy John surgery on July 26, 2023.

BARRETT: That process is hard when you’re not feeling 100%. You don’t know if it’s going to go [bad] or if it’s going to be OK. That process is super, super mentally challenging because every day you’re wondering what’s happening on the inside of your elbow. Is it healed? Is it not? And you don't really know until you get to a certain point of intensity to really stress it. And then we finally got to that point, and it's like, “It just doesn't feel right.” The player knows their body better than anybody. You know what you're feeling. You obviously have this level of comparison of what you feel when it's right. Obviously, everyone will sit here and say, “Well, why didn't you just get the surgery right away?” Well, if you don't have to have it, you’ve got to try sometimes. You know? Unfortunately, that was the case with this one. And so, he just knew. Afterwards he was like, “It’s just not right. Something doesn’t feel right.”

Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed Painter’s Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles. Painter returned to Clearwater shortly thereafter. He spent months rehabbing.

He threw a baseball for the first time in mid-January 2024.

BARRETT: Were there challenging days? Absolutely. You’re going to worry. Those are normal things. You’re going to question if it’ll ever come back. Because that is a real thought. It doesn’t come back for everybody.

PHILLIES PLAYER DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR LUKE MURTON: I'm the director of hitting at the time. He walks into the cage one day. I had talked to him in passing. Very nice kid. But he has Toy Story Crocs on. I'm like, "Andy, what are we doing? Why do you have Toy Story Crocs?" He takes a Croc off. He says, "Because my name's in the shoe." It said, "Andy" on it.

Painter progressed to playing catch on flat ground in late May 2024. He threw his first bullpen session on June 14, 2024.

BARRETT: Because of who Andy is, not only as a baseball player, but as a person, I was going to hold him to a very high standard. I knew what he was capable of because of the talent level that he had. The message we try to drive to everybody in rehab is a 1-percent-better mindset. And so we took that approach every single day.

Painter threw only one ball in his first bullpen session.

BARRETT: I took a screenshot of it. Because, again, I’ve seen a lot of first bullpens. I look back at my first bullpen, post-TJ, post-arm break ... this was different. A guy like that throwing the ball where he wants to in his first bullpen post-TJ, that’s not normal. He was just smiling ear to ear.

Painter threw his first live BP in early September 2024. Painter and the Phillies decided that he should pitch in the Arizona Fall League. He made his first AFL start on Oct. 12, 2024. He went 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in six starts, striking out 18 and walking four in 15 2/3 innings.

He was named AFL Pitcher of the Year.

BARRETT: I love the fact that he was able to go out there and compete. He got to see, “Hey, where’s my stuff playing at?” He got to knock off the competition rust a little bit. And, again, to his credit, he dominated. He won Pitcher of the Year. Hard work pays off. It always does. It always will. For him to go out there and accomplish that, it’s a credit to the work he put in.

It was fun seeing him recognize again how good he is. You can kind of get to a point in rehab where you just don’t know. You don’t know how your stuff is going to play. I remember one conversation. He had that old sweeper that was a little bit of a slower pitch. Now obviously he’s got a revamped slider. But we’re having a conversation about how he’s going to attack guys. It’s not a conversation of, “Yeah, I felt this in my elbow.” The conversations are steered toward getting guys out. I think that’s the best part. Those other conversations happened for so long. But now he’s competing.

After the AFL season, Painter visited Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham in Nashville, Tenn.

COTHAM: It was the first time that we talked pitching, talked life. It was the first time I saw Andy as a person. What was so impressive was his ability to talk through who he is. The ability to talk about yourself very clearly, your strengths and weaknesses and how you want to get better and the plan of attack, it sounds very straightforward. But a lot of times that is the hard work: being so clear and honest. I came away thinking he knows exactly who he is, and he has a really high desire to be really good. It leaks through when certain guys talk about their game. They love to pitch. It’s not about doing pitching and throwing nasty pitches. It’s that, but there’s this sprinkle on top of, “I like pitching. I want the ball. I want the ball in my hands.” It wasn’t eye-opening, but it was like, “I get it. I get it a little more now.”

SPRING TRAINING AND THE MINORS, 2025: 'THE BEST I’VE EVER SEEN OF SOMEONE HIS AGE'

Painter spent Spring Training in big league camp in Clearwater, but he did not pitch in a game. Instead, he threw bullpens as the Phillies planned for him to join the Threshers' rotation in April, with eyes on a big league promotion around “July-ish.”

Painter continued to work closely with Barrett.

BARRETT: I joke that I’m his caddie. I actually got a caddie outfit and caddied for him at the [Phillies] golf outing [in February]. It’s part of the gig, man. I’m going to have fun with it. I really value relationships, so to get the best out of these guys you’ve got to be in the trenches with them.

Painter made four starts with Clearwater. He went 0-2 with a 3.97 ERA, striking out 12 and walking one in 11 1/3 innings. Eduardo Tait caught each start.

TAIT: I met him right before his first start, just catching him in the bullpen. I could tell he was different. The fastball was really special, and overall he just had really good stuff. He was great. He was a really good guy, talking to all the players, talking baseball, talking pitches and how to attack hitters and things like that. He was fun, but once he got on the mound he was locked in.

A couple of hitters talked about how ready he looked, how hard the fastball was. He was really impressive to catch.

Painter made his first start for the IronPigs on May 8. He made 22 starts, going 5-6 with a 5.65 ERA. Payton Henry caught 13 of Painter's 22 starts in Triple-A. Garrett Stubbs caught eight. Josh Breaux caught one.

STUBBS: There were a lot of really high expectations for him. For a guy like that, sure, they're attainable. But some of the expectations felt a little too high for somebody who had never pitched in Triple-A and was coming off of TJ. I'm just glad I got to navigate that with him. Before his first start [on May 8], I told him that there'd be a point in the game where he'd struggle because that's how it goes. 'That is going to be your test for the day.' Like, can you get through this tough moment or whatever? It ended up happening, but he got out of the inning. It's things like that, through experience, that will help him going forward.

COTHAM: We asked him to work on some things, like fastball command. We asked him to tweak grips here and there to get the ball flying how he wants it. His ability to figure out those things in real time, it’s a really good skill, especially when you get [to the big leagues] because the game is going to ask you to make adjustments from start to start.

His ability to spin the ball and his ability to manipulate his hand is some of the best I’ve ever seen, and the best I’ve ever seen of someone his age. In one bullpen session, he could show you eight different types of breaking balls. Now, we want him to be a master of two, maybe three. But he has a lot of hand talent. His ability to know how to make vertical break happen, horizontal break happen, carry happen, spin direction, all these things that are science-y, it’s a really nice skill. It’s his willingness to try things and attempt to work on who you could become, and not just who you are.

HENRY: It was fun to see his personality come out. He's just a freaking good dude. It doesn't matter if it's a good start or a bad start, he's always going to joke around and have a good time, but when it's game time, it's game time. He's one of those guys you don't forget because he's a good person.

STUBBS: He was pitching against Buffalo one day. He was getting a lot of balls called that were just off the plate. And they were just off the plate. Maybe some of them were close. He threw a slider to Davis Schneider. The ump calls it a ball. Painter immediately challenges. And when I tell you this ball was a foot off the plate, this ball was a foot off the plate. [laughs] It goes up on the Jumbotron and everybody sees it. He didn't challenge anything after that.

IRON PIGS MANAGER ANTHONY CONTRERAS: When I think of Andy, I also think of Mick [Abel]. The stuff I got to go through with Mick last year, the ups and downs, the adversity. I truly believe the adversity part of this game is what shapes you into becoming whatever greatness you see ahead. You have to go through that stuff at some point. He’s been dominating his whole career. He blows out, now he comes here and he’s playing two years of catch-up. We see adversity right in front of us, and we get to watch that. In the moment, people are like, “What’s going [on]?” Everybody worries. And that’s normal. But at the same time, I sit back and lean on my experience, watching Mick Abel, watching Fernando Tatis Jr. All these players that I’ve come across that are making names for themselves. I start thinking about all the little things that they’ve had to overcome to allow them to excel. And that’s what I’m seeing in front of me with Andy.

I get to see behind the scenes, the student. I get to see the kid that’s hanging over my shoulder when he’s not pitching and asking me questions -- not pitching related. It’s like, situational.

IRON PIGS PITCHING COACH PHIL CUNDARI: If you watched him during a game he’s not pitching, if you had video of it, it’s one of the nicest things as a coach to enjoy in the dugout. You will find him, and he will move from one area, talk with somebody specifically, move to another to another. And then eventually, out of nowhere, it’ll be maybe the seventh inning or something. He’s been to all these places and had all these conversations. Out of nowhere, he’ll be on my left. He won’t say anything. I can just feel his presence. He wants to talk. He just wants to talk. He’s just waiting for me to engage him. I feel like it’s such a little kid kind of thing. He’s got such a great vibe, a great energy.

ELLMYER: I don’t know if he’d been able to take on as much as he’s taken on without being able to have a little bit of looseness, a little bit of an ability to not take things so seriously. I mean that in the best way possible -- to be able to take things day by day and do everything he can to be present in the moment and have fun with what he’s doing, but while also being very focused and very competitive.

CONTRERAS: We were talking on [Aug. 5 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre]. One of their players uses a torpedo bat. I said, “When I see torpedo bats, that means they can’t get to inside pitches. That means they get jammed a lot. They have trouble getting the head out.” Just talking about my perspective of the game, and him wrapping it around his own head. When he’s in between Phil and I during the game and he’s asking us questions, he’s looking at the iPad, he’s going, "Oh, the infield’s in. This is that situation you were talking about.” That right there is the foundation of what’s to come. Now when he gets into those games and he starts to see those situations in front of him, all those little conversations behind the scenes start to show themselves on the field. Now he’s like, “Oh, I’ve been here. This is what AC and I talked about. This is what Phil and I talked about.”

Painter threw a career-high 103 pitches over 6 1/3 innings against Worcester on July 30. He allowed one run.

CONTRERAS: I go get him, and I could tell he was feeling good about himself. I guess this is the inexperience and the rookie in him. He looks at me. I said, “That’s a heck of a job.” He gives me the ball. And as he’s walking off, he’s like, “You know I could get this guy.” And I said, “I know you can,” and I just turned around. When I came back to the dugout, I said to him, “Usually you say that before you give the manager the ball. You want to say, ‘Hey, I’ve got this,’ and fight for the baseball.”

CUNDARI: Typically, a mound visit with him is just to slow him down a little bit, give him a breather. It really hasn’t been more than that. But this one game, it was really hot. He let me get a little closer to him than usual. I was like, "What the … ?” As we’re discussing the hitter, I just feel this arm, just feeling me up and down, my back, my front, all over my shirt. I looked up at him because obviously he’s a lot taller than me. He said, “I just needed to dry my arms.” I had no idea what was going on. When he came back in -- I was laughing hysterically -- he explained that one of his teammates had taught him, if you’re drenched and there’s a visit, just wipe down the pitching coach. Because you can’t wipe down the catcher because he’s probably even more drenched than you. I was the human towel. But it just speaks to how there’s this curiosity in him.

Painter had a solid spring with the Phillies in 2026, posting a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and walked two. It was more than good enough to make the Phillies' Opening Day roster. He will make his MLB debut on Tuesday.

DOMBROWSKI: He's earned it.

BARRETT: The kid’s had a rough go. Obviously, it’s not the ideal plan that he set out as a 19-year-old. His story of what he’s been through, the resilience, all these things, the unexpected, doing what he’s doing and being at this level and being on the verge of being called up, I have no doubt he’s going to be a special talent. The expectations on him are never going to go away. But the one message we’ve hounded on a lot is the only expectations that really matter are the ones that you put on yourself. The more he can continue to live that and drown out the noise -- because the noise is what you sign up for when you’re going to be the best -- I’m just excited for what the future holds for him.

PAINTER: It's a childhood dream. It's something that everyone wants to do. I'm super grateful for the opportunity. Now I've got to stay. That's the hard part. I've got to stay. Getting there is one thing. Staying is another.