Phillies top prospect Andrew Painter. (Credit: @PhilsPlayerDev on Instagram)
Andrew Painter was back on the mound throwing a live batting practice in Clearwater on Friday.
He threw 33 pitches across two innings. Reports, as they usually are with Painter, were positive.
His velocity was excellent. His off speed pitches were located excellently for strikes. Yada, yada, yada.
As for his next step, well, it sounds like it's going to be in minor league game action.
"We'll see in the next couple days," said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. "It could be an assignment, if he comes out of this clean."
Where that assignment would be, is still to be determined. He could stay in Clearwater with the Low-A Threshers. They are home for a lengthy series next week.
Or, if they want him closer to home to get eyeballs on him, maybe High-A Jersey Shore, who is also playing at home next week.
It's unlikely that his first assignment would be with Reading or Lehigh Valley, but it also depends on how quickly that want him to face better, more experienced batters as part of their plan to get him ready to debut later this season.
For what it's worth, Reading is on the road next week (Somerset) while Lehigh Valley is at home.
Not sure Phillies fans are ready for how good Andrew Painter is going to be pic.twitter.com/umXZwKu7br
The Phillies have said pretty consistently that they expect Painter to make his Big League debut "Julyish," and that time frame will likely be dictated by the Phillies position in the standings as well as their pitching health.
Regardless, Painter's arrival is inching closer and closer by the day.
Ranger Suarez came out of his two most recent bullpen sessions feeling a lot better, and free from the back stiffness he had been experiencing earlier this spring.
The Phillies will now have the lefty face live hitters tomorrow for the first time in three weeks.
Suarez pitched in a spring training game on March 9. His next outing was in an intersquad game on March 15. It was after that outing that the team reported he was having back stiffness.
Ranger Suárez speaking to the media after today’s game.
Says he wants to spend his entire career with the Phillies. “This is my childhood club . . . All I think about is staying here.” pic.twitter.com/y1DRz5QS0c
Suarez will throw a live batting practice tomorrow. Usually, the first one of those is in the neighborhood of 25 pitches. He'll likely have to throw another one of those before beginning a rehab assignment, so he's likely still 2-3 weeks away from being able to return to the Phillies, but he's definitely progressing.
Weston Wilson also participated in the same live batting practice as Painter, and he hit a home run (it wasn't off of Painter).
Wilson is recovering from an oblique strain suffered early in Spring Training. He's likely to get into rehab games in the next week or two as he tries to get back to the Phillies roster by the end of the month.
Through six games, the Phillies starters have thrown 34 2/3 innings and yielded just 10 runs (2.65 ERA). Ironically, all 10 runs were the result of six home runs.
That means opposing teams have yet to score off a Phillies starter unless they hit the ball out of the park.
Even funnier is that in the five Phillies wins, the only runs scored off their starters were home runs - by the opposing team's catcher.
Zack Wheeler has given up two solo shots to Washington catcher Keibert Ruiz and Colorado backstop Hunter Goodman.
Jesus Luzardo gave up a two-run homer to Ruiz and Cristopher Sanchez gave up a solo homer to Goodman.
Taijuan Walker, of course, pitched six shutout innings.
Only Aaron Nola gave up homers to guys who don't squat for a living - Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe.
