Andrew Painter has continued to impress in his return to the mound, throwing three shutout innings in his third start back from Tommy John surgery.
The former first-round pick struck out three and allowed just one hit for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League on Thursday at Salt River Fields. He lowered his ERA in the AFL to 3.86 ERA in seven total innings.
Painter, the top pitching prospect in the Phillies organization, missed the entire 2023 and 2024 regular seasons after injuring his throwing elbow last spring. The right-hander appeared to have a real shot to crack the Phillies’ rotation out of camp in 2023 as a teenager, but his ascension through Philadelphia’s system had to be put on a major hold due to his surgery.