Andrew Painter didn't disappoint in his 2026 Phillies spring training debut, using six different pitches to retire six consecutive Yankees.
All eyes were on Andrew Painter on Sunday afternoon as the Yankees visited Clearwater, and the Phillies' top pitching prospect did not disappoint. Painter cruised through two innings that went about as well as possible.
He threw six different pitches: four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, sweeper, curveball and changeup. The Yankees loaded up with lefties. Five of the first six hitters in their lineup were left-handed bats: Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Jasson Dominguez, Ryan McMahon and J.C. Escarra.Painter's first pitch of the day was a 97 mph fastball for a swinging strike. He missed high, well above the zone with his next two offerings, a fastball and curveball. No big shock there. Missing high is typically a sign of a pitcher being amped up, and you can understand why Painter was for those first few pitches Sunday in his first spring training start in exactly three years.A theme from his outing was late jump on the fastball. It appeared to explode on hitters late.Painter's first pitch was a 96 mph fastball high, but he settled into the first inning from there. His next pitch was 97 in the zone, perhaps catching too much plate, but when you have his kind of velocity there is more margin for error.Painter threw four different pitches in his eight-pitch strikeout of Dominguez, finishing him off with his only slider of the inning. He quickly worked ahead 0-2 with a nicely placed curveball on the outside corner and then a 97 mph heater right down the chute. J.T. Realmuto gave him a supportive nod after Painter hit his glove on 0-2 with a fastball just above the zone. That's where you want an 0-2 fastball. Dominguez fouled it off.He followed up with two perfectly executed fastballs: 95 at the knees, 98 in on the hands. Dominguez fouled off both before Painter fooled him with a 90 mph slider.Painter vs. DeJong Veteran shortstop Paul DeJong was the lone right-handed hitter Painter faced on Sunday. He threw him two pitches. DeJong swung and missed for strike one on a well-executed sweeper on the outside corner, then flied out softly to right field on a 95 mph sinker on the inner half. This was the first sinker Painter threw on the day.This was another two-pitch at-bat. The first was another 97 mph four-seamer at the top of the zone for called strike one. The last was another heater at 97 on the inner half of the plate. It was in a lefty's nitro zone, but again, this was a spot you can get away with more easily at 97 then at 92-93. McMahon grounded out to short.Escarra made solid contact with a line drive on a high heater but it was directly at rightfielder Adolis Garcia. It was the third consecutive two-pitch at-bat for Painter to end his afternoon. He went heater-heater, both at 97, with both pitches just off the plate away and up. Both were effective spots. This was a two-inning glimpse of what Painter has to offer. He has a deep mix of pitches, the build of a classic right-handed workhorse and the potential to pitch at the top of a rotation for years to come.COREY SEIDMAN A Philly sports lifer who grew up a diehard fan before shifting to cover the Phillies beginning in 2011 as a writer, reporter, podcaster and on-air host. Believes in blending analytics with old-school feel and observation, and can often be found watching four games at once when the Phillies aren't playing.
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