MLB Buying it or Selling it

I’m probably a week away from making some moves in my rankings and highlighting them in the article. For now, let’s keep enjoying some major leaguers. This week, I looked at some early performances, and based on what they’ve been doing and their perceived value, I’m going to decide whether to buy into them.

3 Up 3 Down – Prospects Live

⬆️3 UpAndrew Painter, RHP PHI

2026 Stats: 5.1 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 8 K

Photo Credit: Yong Kim

The long anticipated wait for Painter is over and it was worth it!

I love the fans with smocks and paint brushes. Can we paint a K on a board each time?

It was a mystery what Painter was dealing with last year. He gave up 20 home runs, had a 1.49 WHIP, and a 5.26 ERA. The reports I saw were that he was struggling with his fastball, which sets up everything. In Painter’s first outing, I was extremely encouraged by the success of all his offerings. He got at least one strikeout with four different pitches. Painter was able to navigate a left-handed-heavy Nats lineup, showing multiple effective pitches against the southpaws; his change-up will be a weapon against them. There is a lot of movement on the pitch, and it will run glove-side at times. It’ll be interesting to see how he uses it against righties. He did not throw it to them once in his first start; however, he threw only eight total pitches against righties. His fastball yielded three hits, including one double, but watching the game, it could have been just one. Jorbit Vivas somehow got on top of a fastball above the zone and on the inner half and hit a grounder down the third base line. Daylen Lile skied one right behind the second base bag that no one could find, and he hustled in for what was a double but should have been a routine pop-up. Overall, Painter had a solid command of his fastball, rarely leaving it over the plate. I’m buying Painter. The stuff looks nasty, and I’m excited to watch him going forward. This is the Painter we were hoping for last year.