Painter throws three scoreless innings with three whiffs, no strikeouts
Andrew Painter’s follow-up act to his scoreless 2026 spring debut was another scoreless outing, this one an inning longer against the Blue Jays. In three frames, he surrendered one hit (a single) and one walk — on four pitches to the game’s leadoff hitter, whom he promptly picked off.
The line, though, was just fine. Painter didn’t record any strikeouts on Saturday. He threw 34 pitches (with 16 swings) and generated just three whiffs. He had three in his first outing on 20 pitches (11 swings), with just one strikeout in that one.
Painter’s four-seam velocity was down just a tick (96.3 compared to 96.8 mph) from his first outing. He got one whiff on nine four-seamers.
Despite the lack of strikeouts, Painter kept hard contact to a minimum, with flyouts of 99.2 and 100.8 mph the only hard contact on his day.
The fastball is a key area of focus for Painter and the Phillies, who are trying to restore the action on the pitch that Painter had before dropping his arm angle after Tommy John surgery. While it is possible and perhaps reasonable to react to the early returns on the pitch, and to the lack of swing and miss, it is March 7 and Painter has made two starts this spring. The general strike-throwing (leadoff walk aside) and lack of explosive contact are good signs.
He’ll have a few more chances to put it all together in Clearwater, but the immediate stakes are low: Painter has a clear inside track to start the season in the Phillies’ rotation. If anything, his first two starts of the spring have probably bolstered that case. That doesn’t mean it’s been perfect.
Crawford runs one down
Another Phillies prospect with a clear inside track to an MLB job on Opening Day is Justin Crawford, whom the Phillies would love to be able to play above average defense in center field. He looked the part on Saturday: