Philadelphia Phillies executive reveals when top prospect should be making MLB debut

Philadelphia Phillies
Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies have strengthened one of baseball’s premier rotations by acquiring left-handed starter Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins.

To complete the deal, the Phillies parted with prospects Starlyn Caba and Emaarion Boyd.

In Luzardo, the Phillies get a nasty southpaw who throws in the high-90s. However, his arrival comes with durability concerns. A left forearm strain limited him to 18 starts in 2022, while left elbow tightness and a lumbar stress reaction restricted him to just 12 appearances in 2024 before being shut down in June.

Despite these setbacks, Luzardo expressed confidence about his readiness for 2025 in a conversation with MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola prior to the trade.

“[I’ve] been able to go through my normal offseason progression: throwing, running, starting to get off the mound,” Luzardo said. “Feeling really good [with my] elbow, back, whole body, and just really gearing up for Spring Training and eyeing down that Opening Day to be 100% full-go, which for now, everything feels really good, and we are full-go.”

Beyond Luzardo, the Phillies’ rotation will receive another significant boost in 2025 with the anticipated arrival of their top prospect.

Related: 10 Worst Free-Agent Contracts In Philadelphia Phillies History

Top Philadelphia Phillies prospect will be making MLB debut in 2025

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies
Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Andrew Painter, who was initially slated for the 2023 rotation at age 20, saw his trajectory altered after making just one spring training start. Tommy John surgery sidelined him for both 2023 and 2024, but his recent performance in the Arizona Fall League has rekindled excitement about his potential.

Across six starts in Arizona, Painter dominated with 18 strikeouts in 15⅔ innings while issuing just four walks, posting an impressive 2.30 ERA. MLB.com currently ranks him as baseball’s 32nd overall prospect.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski shared the organization’s deliberate approach to Painter’s debut with The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber.

“July-ish,” Dombrowski said regarding Painter’s expected arrival. “We’re going to push the innings back. Andrew understands the plan. We think it’s a good plan.”

The Phillies intend to preserve Painter’s innings for the season’s second half, including a potential playoff run. He’ll begin 2025 in the minor leagues to build up his workload gradually.

“We’re going to save a lot of his innings until we get to July-ish for the big league level,” Dombrowski explained. “It might be June, might be August, somewhere around there. But you can’t use too many [innings] at the minor league level.”

The current rotation features Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez, and the newly-acquired Luzardo. When Painter arrives, the Phillies could either implement a six-man rotation or transition someone like Suarez to a bullpen role, where he has previous experience as a reliever.

Related: MLB insider reveals Philadelphia Phillies surprisingly putting All-Star Alec Bohm on trading block

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