This is the type of Friday afternoon news dump that Phillies fans don't want to hear. Right-hander Andrew Painter, Major League Baseball's top pitching prospect in the entire sport, has a tender elbow, manager Rob Thomson announced to the media on Friday.
Testing is underway for the 19-year-old hurler:
Painter made his spring debut on Wednesday, allowing a run and three hits while striking out one batter in two innings of work. He brought the heat, as his four-seam fastball topped out at 99 miles per hour. Here's his cutter at work:
- MORE PHILLIES
- Which Phillies will play in the 2023 World Baseball Classic?
- Report: Rhys Hoskins' future with the Phillies is 'uncertain'
- IronPigs to offer 'The Mandalorian' jerseys as part of 'Star Wars Night' ticket package
While nothing can concretely be known about how much this will affect Painter just yet, I'd have to imagine this hurts his shot at being in the big league rotation to start the 2023 season.
Painter, the Phillies' first-overall pick in 2021, had a minuscule 1.56 ERA in 103.2 innings of work in 2022 across three separate minor league levels: A Clearwater, A+ Jersey Shore and AA Reading.
Follow Shamus & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @shamus_clancy | @thePhillyVoice
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
Add Shamus' RSS feed to your feed reader