CLEARWATER, Fla. — Three years ago, Andrew Painter and a group of other professional baseball players gathered at Santaluces Community High School in South Florida for a relaxed game of pickup basketball.

They called out whom they were defending. Max Scherzer yelled, “All right, I’ve got Painter.”

“He was 38,” Painter said. “I was 19. I’m like, I don’t know what to do here. This guy’s making $43 million this year.”

Not to mention Painter is about 4 inches taller than Scherzer. There were no injuries to report, and the pair faced off again three years later Saturday — this time, on the mound. Both were effective in the exhibition game, though Painter’s fastball command dipped somewhat from his first spring outing.

The pair met at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Gardens, where Painter has worked out since he was 14. It’s a favorite workout facility of many MLB pitchers — including Painter’s teammate Jesus Luzardo — and provided Painter the opportunity to pick the brains of top talent from a young age. Miles Mikolas spent time around the younger players at Cressey, allowing Painter to ask questions and better understand the game.

Scherzer was another who talked shop with him.

“He’s always a good conversation,” Painter said. “He likes pitching. He likes talking about the game — all that sort of stuff. He talks about offseason and prep, timing of bullpens.”

The process of ramping up, Painter said, was what they discussed the most — how to best find the middle point so it’s not too quick or too slow.

Throughout the winter, they ribbed each other — “We going to play again this year?” It didn’t come to fruition, though. Scherzer was a longtime fan of playing basketball because of how the jumping and running translated to his game, even though some players avoid basketball because of injury risk. He gave up basketball after back surgery in December 2023, saying it would put him at high risk of re-herniating his disk.

“You can tell me it’s against the rules all you want,” Scherzer said, “but it makes me a better pitcher.”

Justin Crawford’s work pays off in center

Justin Crawford entered the offseason intent on becoming a better center fielder. So, he worked with former Gold Glover and All-Star Eric Davis over two weeks in Arizona.

There’s been a notable difference in Crawford’s play halfway through spring training. His reads have been better, including in Saturday’s third inning when he tracked Josh Kasevich’s 100 mph batted ball heading toward the center-field wall. He’s been communicative, and it looks like he’s fully taken charge.

“I feel pretty good,” Crawford said before Saturday’s game. “I feel like my routes have been more efficient, and my reads have been a little bit better. It’s something I’ve got to continue to do every single day, make sure I stay on top of it. But so far, early in camp, it’s noticeably better.”

Crawford, who sometimes struggled with routes and reads with Triple-A Lehigh Valley last year, looks as though he’s coming into his own defensively. That is all the Philadelphia Phillies could hope for after essentially handing him the keys to the position in the offseason, which was somewhat of a gamble given the lack of depth options and Crawford’s body of work.

Davis and Crawford remain in touch, with Crawford trying to send him as much film as possible. Davis watches games when he gets a chance, though he’s given Crawford no additional feedback. This early in spring training, Crawford said, Davis just wants to let him play.

Aidan Miller update

The Phillies sent Aidan Miller, the organization’s top prospect, to visit with their medical staff in Philadelphia on Friday, and he returned to Clearwater on Saturday. He has been sidelined for more than two weeks because of lower-back pain, an issue he played through last season.

Miller tracked pitches in the cage and ran in the pool last week, but he has not picked up a bat in about two weeks. It was unlikely he would contribute at the major-league level early in the season, but it was still to be an important camp for one of the sport’s top prospects. Given his progress, it seems unlikely Miller will be available for any Grapefruit League games or for Triple-A Opening Day on March 27.

“We don’t have a timeline,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I mean, he hasn’t swung a bat in two weeks. So, we just want to get him healthy, where there’s no pain, and get him back playing again.”

Thomson added his concern level is “none” because he knows the team’s medical staff will take care of Miller.

The infield prospect also dealt with back pain toward the end of last season, choosing to keep playing because of how well he was performing. He told The Athletic he played through it for about two months, as it only became much worse toward the end of his season in Triple A. He said the flare-up that started in February was less painful than what he experienced in September.

“Sometimes at the end of the year when his back was bothering him maybe a little bit more, he performed better,” director of player development Luke Murton said Friday. “We’re glad he’s getting healthy. We’re glad he’s figuring out exactly what’s going on. We’re looking forward to getting him back on the field.”

The Phillies and Miller have expressed a lack of concern. The visit with the Phillies staff, Thomson said, was to “close the loop” on the medical side of things. Still, it is obviously worth monitoring given the recurrence and Miller’s importance to the club’s plans.