Andrew Painter remains the top prospect in the organization for the Phillies. (Cheryl Pursell)
The Phillies reportedly passed on the chance to include Andrew Painter in a deal for Garrett Crochet last summer, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski continued to be protective of the organization's top prospect before the recently-passed trade deadline.
Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Phillies "refused to even entertain the thought of moving Painter" in trade talks for Mason Miller of the A's and Jhoan Durán of the Minnesota Twins. (The Phillies eventually acquired Durán for Mick Abel and Eduardo Tait, while Miller was dealt to the San Diego Padres).
Surely, if the Phillies had included Painter, it would have enticed the Cleveland Guardians to trade outfielder Steven Kwan, which would have improved the lineup for the next few seasons.
Ultimately, though, the Phillies held onto Painter.
In his Zoom meeting with the media to wrap up the trade deadline, Dombrowski was asked by On Pattison why the team remains so committed to keeping Painter.
"Well, because I think he's really good ... is really what it comes down to," Dombrowski said with a smile.
"I think he is a premier starting pitcher ... is what he projects to be," Dombrowski continued. "Again, he's coming off of basically missing two years. Tommy John surgery, a lot of times after you throw like he has, it even takes another year to get back to where you were."
It's been a bit of an up-and-down season for Painter since he was promoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, as he has a 4.50 ERA in 14 starts for the IronPigs.
However, as Dombrowski noted, it's not uncommon for pitchers to take a bit longer to get back to 100% after Tommy John surgery. Zack Wheeler, for example, had Tommy John surgery in March of 2015 while with the New York Mets. He really wasn't an effective pitcher in the majors again until 2018. But since then, he's been one of baseball's best and most durable pitchers. Obviously, that's an extreme example. But the Phillies believe Painter has the type of talent to eventually also be an outlier.
Also, Painter has made progress in his two starts since the All-Star Break, including going over 100 pitches for the start in his latest outing.
MLB's No. 8 prospect Andrew Painter (@Phillies) exceeds 100 pitches for the first time in his career as he spins a quality start for the @IronPigs:
6.1 IP
7 H
1 R
2 BB
4K
103 pitches; 65 strikes pic.twitter.com/DgRsmIa5qZ
With Aaron Nola set to make a rehab start at Triple-A Lehigh Valley Friday and likely to return to the Phillies if all goes well at some point in August, it's unclear when, if at all, Painter will make his MLB Debut in 2025. But he's still only 22 years old, and even if his ascension hasn't been as rapid as some expected this year, the Phillies pretty clearly still believe Painter has the ceiling of an ace. And while you never say never, those usually aren't guys you trade away.
"I mean, there's no untradeable players," Dombrowski said. "...I've always said I would have traded Miguel Cabrera for two Miguel Cabreras. But we just think he's really, really good ... top of the rotation, has the potential to be a No. 1, No. 2 type starter for a long, long time for us. And we're right on the verge of being able to do it."
