The Philadelphia Phillies have massive expectations for youngster Andrew Painter, and many inside of the organization continue to praise the stuff that makes him one of the most intriguing arms in baseball.
Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham believes Painter’s mental approach to pitching may be just as important to his game as his stuff, something that will put him in a good place on the bump.
With an elite fastball, Painter should be just fine, no matter how he feels. However, as Cotham pointed out, the ability to adapt during games is what separates good pitchers from great ones.
During Spring Training, Painter had another opportunity to showcase not only his stuff but also his mindset that the Phillies coaching staff is looking for. To say he’s passed the test would be an understatement.
“The hallmark of a great pitcher is the ability to take that in, still compete and have a really quick reset in the dugout,” Cotham said before Painter pitched, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
“Be coherent, understand what happened, have a conversation with the catcher, me, and then go out and maybe make a small adjustment on ... ‘Hey, the ball is doing this today. We’re not going to fix it, but we’re going to plan around it. We’re going to use it.’ He’s done a really nice job of balancing the work and the competition, which to me is No. 1 for a starter. You’ve got to be pushing the envelope a little bit. You’ve got to be practicing and working on things.”
Painter’s explosive football has been the talk of his early career, but his offspeed stuff is just as important. He feels very good with his changeup and has a ton of confidence throwing it.
“It feels good,” Painter explained. “I feel comfortable throwing it to both sides. I feel good going right on right, and that just elevates the heater, too. It elevates the whole arsenal when I have that working.”
For the Phillies, Painter is a very important piece to this puzzle moving forward. He needs to get up to speed quickly and has a chance to do so this year.