Andrew Painter has been waiting for this day for a long time. The Phillies top prospect finally faced live hitters on Friday for the first time since he pitched sparingly in the Arizona Fall League. Painter faced Phillies players Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, and Bryson Stott in live batting practice and all reports from the outing were encouraging.

The Phillies are being cautious with Painter this spring and will limit his innings throughout the season. The plan is for him to stay behind in Florida when teams head into the season. That will give him the opportunity to pitch in extended spring training, keeping him in warm weather in a no-pressure situation. At some point, the Phillies will allow Painter to start climbing the minor league ladder and believe that if he can stay healthy and is throwing well, he will make his major league debut in mid-summer. Painter will turn 22 next month and pitched 15.2 innings over six games in the AFL with just four walks and 18 strikeouts, posting a WHIP of 0.894 and an ERA of 2.30.

“The biggest thing is health, walking out of there feeling good. I feel like stuff was coming out pretty good. Talking to some of the hitters, they said the same,” Painter told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com after the outing.

In 2023, Painter had an impressive spring outing for the Phillies and appeared destined to open the season in Philadelphia. In an outing against Minnesota, Painter felt good, but have overthrown and wound up needing Tommy John Surgery that sidelined him for all of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

“A few years ago, the first one felt really good and that led to some problems,” Painter noted. “I’ve got to take it nice and easy.”

The plan is for Painter to throw at least a couple more live batting practice sessions before the major league club leaves Clearwater and then have him work in extended camp.