Top Phils prospects Painter, Abel, McGarry invited to spring camp
The Phillies’ high three pitching prospects had been among the many 21 non-roster gamers the membership invited to Major League Spring Training on Tuesday.
Andrew Painter (Phillies’ No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline), Mick Abel (No. 2) and Griff McGarry (No. 4) will be a part of the staff in Clearwater, Fla., when pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 16. Painter and McGarry are anticipated to compete for the ultimate spot in Philadelphia’s beginning rotation, together with Bailey Falter and Cristopher Sánchez.
The competitors for the No. 5 spot — behind Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and newcomer Taijuan Walker — is undoubtedly the largest roster battle for the Phils this spring.
“There’s quite a few candidates, really,” supervisor Rob Thomson mentioned on Monday. “There’s Bailey Falter, Sánchez, Painter, McGarry — there’s a whole bunch of guys. We just have to see what happens during Spring Training. See how they perform; they’ve got to stay healthy. We’ll figure it out by the end.”
Though Painter hasn’t pitched above Double-A, he has a professional probability to crack the Opening Day roster. He posted a 1.56 ERA over 22 begins between Single-A Clearwater, High-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading final season, all whereas putting out 155 batters in 103 2/3 innings.
McGarry additionally turned heads along with his strikeout numbers in 2022, racking up 130 in 87 1/3 innings throughout three ranges, together with eight innings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Here’s the total record of the 21 gamers who acquired non-roster invitations on Tuesday, listed alphabetically by final title with their prospect rating in parentheses:
Left-handed pitcher: Ben Bowden
Infielders: Jim Haley, Scott Kingery, Vimael Machín, Will Toffey, Weston Wilson
Catchers: Vito Friscia, John Hicks, Max McDowell
