Mar 1, 2026; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Andrew Painter (76) throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in the second inning during spring training at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck
PHILADELPHIA— It's finally going to happen Tuesday — Andrew Painter is going to pitch in a regular-season game for the Phillies.
Taijuan Walker will take the ball for the Phillies Monday against the Nationals, but much of the buzz prior to the series opener centered around the franchise's long-time top prospect, who will make his much-anticipated MLB Debut in the second of three games against Washington.
"Obviously, a lot of family coming in, and a lot of people coming to watch, but the preparation and everything else is gonna be the same," Painter said. "I'm gonna go out onto the field and treat it just like another start and after, we'll look back on it and probably do something after."
Painter estimated he'll have between 30 and 40 friends and family in attendance Tuesday for his first MLB start.
Of course, it would be impossible to talk about his first start coming in 2026 without pointing out that it once appeared he could crack the big leagues as a 19-year-old in 2023.
Tommy John surgery prevented that, but the "July-ish" timeline that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski floated multiple times — while never committing to Painter definitely getting called up in July — loomed over what turned out to be a disappointing 2025, as Painter didn't earn a promotion based on the 5.40 ERA he posted across 22 starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
For his part, Painter said he's thankful for the journey as he's now on the cusp of finally debuting.
"It's definitely been a long road," Painter acknowledged. "I'm grateful for it—grateful for the failure. Last year was a tough one, but I think I learned a lot from it. It's been a long journey, but I'm super grateful for all the people who have been a part of it."
Andrew Painter explains to @AntSanPhilly why he’s thankful for the failure he experienced at Triple-A last season. pic.twitter.com/6klgaQ21Ut
What is it about the failure that makes Painter thankful?
"Because I think without failure ... I think Triple-A was a good place to get the failure out and really experience it there because I think if you go through and don't have any failure, you hit it at the big leagues [for the first time]. I think that's really tough. So being able to get that first little bit of failure in my career not on the biggest stage was a big thing."
His manager, Rob Thomson, agreed with the assessment that it can be good for top prospects to hit a bit of a wall for the first time in their baseball careers before the majors, where trials and tribulations are inevitable.
"Yeah, he is a mature guy, and smart," Thomson said. "I think he understands it would be tough to have your first failure here at the big-league level. So I think being able to go through that, that's part of what the minor leagues is for, to be able to go through it and have failure, whether you're a hitter or pitcher or whatever. And come out of it, and you know that the next time you have failure, you're gonna come out of it.
As far as what would mark a successful MLB Debut for Painter, Thomson has pretty straightforward thoughts on the 22-year-old righty.
"If he gave us six innings, I'd be thrilled, I really would," Thomson said. "As long as he throws strikes ... commands the strike zone ... uses his stuff ... keeps people off balance, he's gonna be fine."
The Nuggets
Andrew Painter explains how he picked No. 24 and if he considered sticking with No. 76.
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/35tzJlYzmf
