Philadelphia Phillies Top Prospect Expected To Compete for Rookie of the Year

The Philadelphia Phillies star pitching prospect was named a top candidate for the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year race.

Feb 23, 2023; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (76) during photo day at BayCare Ballpark. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies roster is known for its veteran stars, but a young pitcher could emerge as a Rookie of the Year candidate next season.

Recently, on the "MLB Pipeline Podcast", hosts Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo laid out the early landscape for the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year award.

Both hosts gave their top three candidates.

Mayo did not mention any Phillies players on his, but Callis listed top pitching prospect Andrew Painter at third on his list.

Painter is an interesting case, he has been electric when on the mound as a professional, but injuries forced him to miss 2023 and 2024. He came back for the Arizona Fall League a few weeks ago and posted a 2.30 ERA over 15.2 innings.

His last, and only, full professional campaign saw him put up a 1.56 ERA of 103.2 innings across a couple of levels of the minor league baseball at just 19 years old in 2022.

He will be 22 next season and will be expected to make the jump to MLB.

The team will probably use spring training to assess which level he starts the season out at, but it will likely be that Painter begins the year in Triple-A.

This is an award that Philadelphia has not had someone win since Ryan Howard in 2005.

Though they have been a good team for the most part since then, they just don't typically rely on young players.

The last time they had a player receive votes was Alec Bohm, who finished in second place behind Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams back in 2020. Before that, it was Rhys Hoskins in 2017.

The good news for Painter is that it will be a relatively low-pressure rookie campaign if he does indeed get the call in 2025.

Obivously, the team will want him to be good as they search for another postseason run, but he will either be a situational bullpen arm or fifth-starter in the rotation.

Painter will also have to deal with some serious competition for the award in Washington Nationals rookie Dylan Crews, Pittsburgh Pirates righty Bubba Chandler and Chicago Cubs slugger Matt Shaw.

There is also the looming threat of Roki Sasaki, he will be an immediate favorite if he signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Diego Padres, as expected.

Painter definitely has the stuff to be the first Phillies rookie to win the award in almost 20 years, but will need to stay healthy and knock off the rust quickly.