Phillies take Andrew Painter with the 13th pick in the draft

In a weird draft due to players falling down the board, bouncing up the board and no one knowing what would happen, the Phillies made their selection. With the 13th pick in the MLB draft, the Phillies took Andrew Painter, a high school right-hander from Florida.

Scouting report time! Here is what Fangraphs had to say about Painter, who they had ranked 16th on their board:

Painter is a prototypical prep arm with an XXL frame, premium arm strength, and nascent feel for spin, and like many high schoolers of this ilk, he has a mid-rotation shot if everything comes together. Painter’s fastball velocity climbed throughout the 2020 summer, and he wrapped sitting 94-97 during his last abbreviated showcase outing. He has three other pitches: a mid-80s changeup, a mid-70s curveball, and a mid-80s slider that has cuttery, horizontal action right now, but for which Painter has good arm-side feel. You could point to Tyler Kolek and argue there’s some elevated risk in taking a kid this large in the first round, but his stuff belongs in the middle third of day one.

Here is the report from Baseball Prospectus, who had him 21st:

A large specimen for a teenager, Painter came into the year as the favorite to be the first prep pitcher taken. At 6-foot-8 he generates a lot of power and has good feel for spinning the baseball, needing perhaps to pull back on throwing so many different pitches (I counted six in a start in February) and trying to mess with hitters’ timing by changing his delivery patterns.

All in all, doesn’t seem like a bad pick when taken on its face. The team hasn’t developed pitchers very well in the past, but seems to have done something right with last year’s top pick, Mick Abel. Perhaps the team thinks whatever program he is on can also work with Painter.

The biggest issue with the pick, if you can even call it that, is that one of the top prospects on people’s list, Kahlil Watson, was still available for the team to take. Watson was high on many draft lists from outside observers and his falling down the board was a big question mark. It’s something that the Phillies saw and still passed on. We’ll see if it ever hurts them, but for now, Painter enters the organization. Congratulations to Andrew and good luck.