Andrew Painter reared back and fired in a 97 mph fastball for a strike.<\/p>\n
Three years to the day since he last took the mound in a spring training game, the highly-touted right-hander was back out there on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Pitching in front of sellout crowd at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Painter retired all six Yankees he faced in his spring debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst time in three years out there for a spring training start,\u201d Painter said when asked by Tom McCarthy and Ruben Amaro Jr. on NBC Sports Philadelphia if he was as excited as the team\u2019s fanbase. \u201cAnytime you go that long without throwing the ball or doing that sort of stuff there are always some juices flowing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Painter has been touted as the next big thing since the Phillies used the 13th overall pick in 2021 to select the 6-foot-7, 215-pounder out of Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.<\/p>\n
But Painter\u2019s fast rise to the big leagues was derailed after he felt pain in his arm following that spring training start three years ago.<\/p>\n
He proceeded to undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the next two seasons.<\/p>\n
Painter returned last year and made 22 starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but had an uneven season. He struggled with command \u2014 often the last thing to return after Tommy John surgery \u2014 and finished with a 5-6 record and 5.65 ERA.<\/p>\n
Still, the Phillies have shown faith in the now-22 year old all but assuring of him a place in the big league rotation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt pretty confident today with the stuff,\u201d Painter said. \u201cEverything felt good in the (bullpens) and the live (batting practice) so there was a little bit of confidence going out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Yankees lineup on Sunday didn\u2019t feature three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge or Cody Bollinger, Painter quickly retired all six hitters \u2014 all big leaguers \u2014\u00a0he faced.<\/p>\n
He struck out Jasson Dom\u00ednguez on a 2-2 slider and then induced a ground out from Ben Rice and a pop up from Trent Grisham in the first inning.<\/p>\n
In the second inning, he put down J.C. Escarra, Ryan McMahon and Paul DeJong in order.<\/p>\n
Easy as 1 \ud83d\udd8c\ufe0f 2 \ud83d\udd8c\ufe0f 3 \ud83d\udd8c\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/a9uBwzfqUs<\/a><\/p>\n