CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Andrew Painter wanted to treat Sunday like it was any other day.
It wasn’t, of course. It had been exactly three years since he made his Grapefruit League debut as a 19-year-old Phillies phenom. His start that afternoon against Minnesota in Fort Myers was supposed to be the beginning of a run to 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.
But an injured elbow and Tommy John surgery pushed Painter’s second Grapefruit League start to Sunday at BayCare Ballpark. The 22-year-old pitched two perfect innings in a 5-3 loss to the Yankees, throwing 20 pitches, pounding the zone and generating early contact. He got one strikeout.
He showed why he will be in the Phillies’ rotation come Opening Day.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Painter said. “I’m still just trying to take it one day at a time and look forward to each start.”
Painter said he expected a few jitters on Sunday. Surprisingly, he felt few.
“I felt pretty comfortable out there,” Painter said. “Right when I toed the rubber, I felt like I was in control of the game. It didn’t speed up on me. That’s the big thing. It’s taking deep breaths and not allowing the game to speed up on you.”
Painter (ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 28 overall prospect) started the game with a 96.6 mph fastball to Trent Grisham, who swung and missed. Grisham popped out three pitches later on another fastball. Ben Rice grounded out on a 1-0 fastball for the second out.
Jasson Domínguez stepped up. Painter and Domínguez were two of baseball’s most ballyhooed prospects in 2022. They had faced each other before.
Painter threw a first-pitch curveball for a strike. He followed with fastballs and changeups. Domínguez fouled off three pitches to extend the at-bat. But in the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Painter threw a slider.
Domínguez whiffed.
“That one was a little over the plate, but you have the intentionality with it and the conviction with it, you’ve got to be confident in what you’re throwing,” Painter said.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto loved it.
“It caught too much plate, but it was a really sharp slider and that’s why you get the swing-and-miss on a pitch that you would think location-wise is going to get hit,” Realmuto said. “That’s just his ability to mix pitches. That was the first slider [Domínguez] saw that at-bat. He saw three or four different types of pitches.
“The fact that he can already do that at that age and throw a lefty five different pitches is impressive.”
Painter’s second inning lasted only six pitches. He got Paul DeJong to fly out on a 0-1 sinker. He got Ryan McMahon to ground out on a 0-1 fastball. J.C. Escarra lined out on a 1-0 fastball.
Painter’s fastball touched 97.8 mph. It averaged 96.8 mph.
“Today got my attention,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
“He beat a lot of really good fastball-hitters in the zone with his fastball,” Realmuto said.
Realmuto has caught Painter a few times this spring. He has been impressed with his poise and his command, which is noteworthy because Painter struggled with his command last year with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. His arm slot had dropped. He found himself struggling to throw strikes.
He corrected that in the offseason.
“He’s been able to work both sides of the plate, and also work up and down, as well, which is something our starters do a good job with and why they’re so successful,” Realmuto said.
“I was very encouraged,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I thought it was great.”
Painter will make his next start on Saturday against the Blue Jays. He will have a few more after that.
Then, he is expected to open the season in the rotation with Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker. Zack Wheeler could be back in April.
“He’ll be good for us,” Realmuto said. “I think it’ll do more good for him being the young arm in that veteran rotation.”
Painter doesn’t need to be a savior. He needs to be himself.
“We’ve talked about that before,” Realmuto said. “He doesn’t have to come in and light the world on fire, which I know the Philly media at times or even just the fan base, that’s what they expect. But this game is really hard. We’re not asking you to come in and be our ace and win the Cy Young. Not that he can’t do that.”
Sunday was a solid first step.
“The sample size is small,” Painter said, “but you can’t complain about a zero.”