Pitching prospects eager to get in on the action

Andrew Painter and Griff McGarry took in the Phillies’ improbable postseason run like most fans: at home on TV. The Phillies pitching prospects often watched games together because they live just 10 minutes from each other in South Florida.

Of the Phillies top pitching prospects, Painter, 19, was the only one to actually attend a playoff game at Citizens Bank Park, so he quickly got peppered with questions by his minor league teammates. McGarry, 23, noticed that sometimes the ballpark got so rowdy the camera started to shake. He asked Painter if it was that electric in person.

“Oh yeah, it was electric,” Painter replied. “I can confirm that.”

Fellow right-hander Mick Abel,

who was watching the games from his home in Oregon about 3,000 miles away, noticed the same thing, and got the same description from Painter: “Electric.”

“You’d listen to games in San Diego or in Houston, and not to discredit their fan bases, but it just wasn’t as loud,” Abel said. “Everybody in Philadelphia was invested. It’s not like you had Steve eating a hot dog, just not paying attention. Everybody was locked in.”

The Phillies didn’t achieve their ultimate goal of winning the World Series this year, but there is optimism that they could get there someday. That optimism stems largely from pitching prospects like Abel, Painter, and McGarry, who could contribute to the big-league club as soon as 2023.

Most players don’t tend to think too far ahead, but the three prospects couldn’t help but wonder if they could be pitching in Phillies playoff games someday. Abel, 21, said whenever Aaron Nola or Zack Wheeler was on the mound, his parents would tell him that those types of games aren’t too far away.

“I don’t really think about it too much, because I try to take it one day at a time,” said Abel, a first-round pick in 2020. “But that’s my biggest goal — to pitch in a World Series, and hopefully win a World Series. Being in those moments is what we prepare for.”

It is a goal of McGarry’s, too. The righthander, who was a fifth-round pick in 2021 and jumped from high single-A to triple-A in 2022, noticed how Phillies fans would erupt after a big strikeout from Nola or Ranger Suárez. He said he’d love to play in that environment and would want to take the same approach as Nola and Suárez.

“I really admire how composed those two guys are, especially in a huge moments,” McGarry said. “Runners on base and they strike out a guy to end the inning and it’s just zero emotion. When Ranger fields a ground ball, he’s so nonchalant about it. They both just did what they needed to do.”

Abel, Painter, and McGarry are all plenty motivated, but watching their team on baseball’s biggest stage provided an extra boost. And that boost came at the perfect time — ahead of 2023, when they could all conceivably get called up to the big-league club.

Painter was dominant this season, posting a 1.56 ERA in 103 ⅔ innings across three levels. Like Painter, Abel also jumped from high-A to double-A, posting a 3.90 ERA over 108 ⅓ innings, and McGarry finished with a 3.71 ERA over 87 ⅓ innings.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said over the summer that he has never been hesitant to fast-track promising pitching prospects to the majors, and highlighted Painter as one who could fit that mold.

Abel and McGarry shouldn’t be too far behind, either. And no matter when they are called up, whether it’s 2023 or beyond, the three prospects will be eager to be part of what they know is a special club.

Abel, who didn’t miss a playoff game this season, said his favorite moment wasn’t a memorable home run or a great pitching performance. It was seeing how the Phillies clubhouse reacted to losing the World Series.

“You can learn a lot from how a team processes adversity, and they weren’t moping around, saying, ‘Oh my God, we just lost,’ ” Abel said. “They were able to talk to each other, and lift each other up. Obviously they were disappointed. But they were also grateful for the season they had.

“You can just tell that everybody loves each other. It makes me really excited to someday, hopefully, be a part of it.”