Bryce Harper will likely retire before he leaves the Philadelphia Phillies, but he might not be the club’s franchise player in a few years.
Harper and other Phillies stars like Trea Turner and Alec Bohm are certainly the baseball kings of the moment in Philadelphia, but a rising prospect reportedly could usurp those guys as the face of the Phillies in due time. His name is Andrew Painter, a towering righty hurler whom Philadelphia selected with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.
In a report published Friday entitled “Predicting Each MLB Team's Face of the Franchise in 2027”, Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter selected Harper for the Phillies, but notably included Painter’s name next to Harper’s as the potential sleeper pick for Philadelphia’s future franchise player.
“It will be interesting to see if a healthy Andrew Painter can get back on the ace trajectory he was showing prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery,” Reuter said. “He is still only 21 years old.”
Painter is currently ranked the No. 34 overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com. The 6-foot-7 flamethrower is currently assigned to the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate, Reading Fightin Phils.
According to the scouting report on Painter from MLB.com, he is still regarded as one of the most talented pitching prospects in baseball, despite the Tommy John.
“Thought to be the second-best high school right-hander in the 2021 Draft, Painter was the taken in the first round that summer,” MLB.com said. “He leapt to the head of the pitching prospect ranks with an outstanding first full season of pro ball in 2022, reaching Double-A and being named MLB Pipeline Pitching Prospect of the Year. He appeared to be on a fast track to Philadelphia when an elbow injury shut him down early in 2023.”
“The fact that Painter is still regarded as one of the best pitching prospects in the game while on the sidelines is a testament to his ability. … His fastball can touch triple digits and was averaging around 96 mph at the end of 2022, and he throws both a sinking two-seamer as well as a high-spin four-seamer up in the zone. … He was knocking on the big league door when the injury occurred, so don’t be surprised to see him get there again quickly once he’s healthy, and it’s important to note that even with the missed time, he’ll be just 22 years old for the entire 2025 season when he’s expected to return.”
It’s frightening to think what an already-loaded Phillies staff would look like if Painter pans out. Bleacher Report, among others, seems convinced that he has superstar potential.
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