Painter Breezes Through Spring Debut; Stott Homers Again

The long-awaited first spring outing for Andrew Painter is in the book; and it’s a good book! Painter needed just 20 pitches to get through two perfect innings against the New York Yankees on Sunday. Painter got the final out of the first inning on a 90 mph slider that he fired past Jason Dominguez for a swing-and-miss strikeout.

While he only recorded the one strikeout, hitters were unable to get solid contact against Painter. The 22-year-old opened the game by challenging Trent Grisham with a 96.6 mph four-seam fastball and got Grisham to swing through the pitch, later retiring the veteran on a pop-up. In addition to the pop-up and strikeout, Painter got outs on two groundballs and a weak flyball and line drive, both to right field. Painter was also able to sample his entire repertoire of four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, sweeper, change-up, and curve throughout the two innings.

While Painter’s velocity sat in the mid 90s and occasionally went a tick higher, it was where Painter generally keeps his pitches. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham remarked that they are working with Painter to try to work a little slower on the mound and not be concerned with velocity. J.T. Realmuto, who caught Painter, feels that at least for Painter, velocity is overrated.

“He doesn’t have to come in and light the world on fire. The Philly media, at times, and even 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, but in this clubhouse, we just need you to take the ball every five days, be yourself and don’t try to do too much,” Realmuto told Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic.

Jonathan Bowlan allowed a single run in the fifth on two hits, but also did strikeout the side. In the seventh, Zach Pop came on and was only able to get two outs, but allowed four runs in the inning. Veteran right-hander Jonathan Hernandez had a strong game as the Phillies final pitcher of the day when he came on and struck out all three hitters he faced.

At the plate, Bryson Stott hit his second home run of the spring on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the fifth. Rafael Marchan served as the designated hitter and had two hits – a single and a double – on the day. Outfield prospect Dylan Campbell had a ninth inning RBI triple and scored on a single by Felix Reyes.