Another Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospect Set to Undergo Tommy John Surgery

More tough news was given to the Philadelphia Phillies when it was revealed another one of their top prospects will be undergoing Tommy John surgery.

A detailed view of a Philadelphia Phillies hat and glove on the bench / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have a lot of things to figure out this offseason, but one thing they seemingly already know is their superstar pitching prospect, Andrew Painter, will be called up for this Major League debut at some point this year and be part of the rotation.

When and how many innings he pitches is still unknown, but after they sent him to the Arizona Fall League to begin this process, it seems like the Phillies are finally ready for him to be part of this franchise's future.

There was a chance that might have happened sooner, though.

Painter's presence in the AFL is the first time he's pitched in a competitive game in two years after he underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2023. That was after he was preparing to build upon his incredible 2022 season where he posted an eye-popping 1.56 ERA across 22 starts and reached Double-A in his first full campaign of professional baseball.

Thankfully, he looks back to full health after looking like his former dominant self in his AFL starts.

Unfortunately, another one of Philadelphia's top pitching prospects is set to miss extended time as Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that Wen-Hui Pan will be undergoing his own Tommy John surgery this month.

Signed as an international free agent out of Taiwan in 2023, the 22-year-old pitcher performed much better in his second professional season in the states this year when he posted a 2.15 ERA across his 18 appearances and five starts compared to the 3.96 ERA he had in 33 outings the season prior.

Despite dealing with soreness in his elbow, he was slated to pitch in the Arizona Fall League before those plans changed after something in the tests and imaging he underwent revealed he would need this procedure.

Pan will now miss all of 2025.

This isn't a massive blow to the Phillies in terms of their current Major League roster since the highest level he had reached to date was High Single-A, but there's a chance he could have made a rapid leap like Orion Kerkering did considering he's also a flamethrowing-type of pitcher.

How Pan progresses following his Tommy John surgery will certainly be something to monitor.