PHILADELPHIA — It was a year ago when the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, said he wouldn’t trade his best pitching prospects, most notably Andrew Painter, because he believed they could contribute to the 2023 tournament.
But the rise of the painter has been postponed until 2025 at the earliest.
The team announced Wednesday that he is expected to have Tommy John surgery on July 26 in Los Angeles. Painter, 20, has been rehabilitating a partial tear of his right ulnar collateral ligament since March 2. He was scheduled to cast BP in Clearwater, Fla., earlier this month, when he began experiencing soreness in his right elbow. The pain remained.
“He was right on the brink of being a major league player,” Dombrowski said Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies doctors recommended reconstruction of the right elbow UCL with ulnar nerve replacement surgery. Al-Rassam is expected to undergo surgery after a consultation on Monday with orthopedist Dr. Neil El-Atrash in Los Angeles.
Phillies doctors and ElAattrache, who works closely with Painter’s agent Scott Boras, both recommended in March that Painter, the Phillies’ No. 1 prospect and No. 8 prospect in baseball, first try conservative rehab.
Of course, you will become conservative, and follow the doctor’s recommendations, – said Dombrowski. “No one wants to have surgery.
“Basically, there’s a scenario where they’re trying to treat him. … There was a healing process. Some imaging results — there was healing. But it still bothers him. You never know that until you go through that process. Unless there’s a complete tear — and he doesn’t have Complete tear – There are many, many pitchers coming off with a rotator cuff tear. It’s more about the symptoms of pain. Everyone is different.”
If Painter had surgery in March — it’s extremely rare for a pitcher with only a partial tear not to try rehab first — Dombrowski said Painter might have been available before the end of the 2024 season.
Now he will miss the entire 2024 season.
“Usually, these surgeries, the players come back and do well for themselves,” Dombrowski said. “He’s still very young, he has a long future ahead of him. Of course, it hurts the organization. It hurts the team because he could have been a contributor to us. But more importantly for him, I feel for him. But he’s young. He’s just turned 20.” Missing next year and back again [2025] When he was 21 and 22 years old. [Even] If it’s a slight delay in time for him to come back, build his stuff back up, you’re still talking about a very young man who still has a long future ahead of him.”
Painter’s absence adds a wrinkle to the Phillies’ future pitching plans. Aaron Nola will be a free agent after this season. Does he re-sign? Zack Wheeler will be a free agent after the 2024 season. Does he re-sign?
Are Mick Abel and Grave McGarry making a move forward? Do others?
The Phillies had hoped Painter would provide them insurance, but now they can’t expect anything from him until at least 2025. Even then, the illustrator’s workload will be very limited after not making a presentation since 2022.
“I know we’ll be looking at him and thinking in 2025 he has a chance to be in our rotation at that time,” Dombrowski said. “But that’s a long time.”
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