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Andrew Painter, the Phillies’ first pick in this year’s draft, is expected to make his professional debut on Friday, according to Dave Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations.
Painter, an 18-year-old right-hander, will pitch against a New York Yankees club in a Florida Complex League game. The league was once called the Gulf Coast League.
It was not known how many innings Painter would pitch, but the first outings are usually short for young pitchers entering the professional ball.
Painter was the 13th overall pick in the draft. He is 6-7 tall and has a power arm. You can read more about him here.
While Painter is set to take the mound competitively, Mick Abel, last year’s top pick and the organization’s highest-rated prospect, remains on the sidelines after a shoulder tendonitis attack.
Abel, 20, has not pitched since July 21.
“He’s doing fine,” Dombrowski said. “He’s coming. He had the problem. We’re just being very careful.
“He ended up having a little tendonitis in his shoulder. Structurally, he’s fine. Just be careful.
“I don’t know when he’ll be back on the mound, if we’ll put him back (during the season) or wait for the training league.
Abel threw 44⅔ for the Low A Clearwater club. He had a 4.44 ERA, struck out 66 at bat but walked 27.
LEFT IS EXIT
Alec Bohm played third base at Lehigh Valley on Tuesday night in his first game since being fired from the majors. He was still there Wednesday night.
Bohm has struggled defensively in third place in majors this season and has often been mentioned as a candidate for a change of position. He can play at first base too and that position makes sense, especially if the designated hitter arrives in the National League next season and Rhys Hoskins can slip into that role.
The team didn’t think about trying Bohm in left field, according to manager Joe Girardi.
“No. No,” Girardi said Wednesday. “We consider him a third baseman. And I know he struggled there. But I thought last year he was playing pretty well at third baseman. This year it’s been a bit difficult for him. We still consider him a third baseman. “
Girardi said the Phillies wanted Bohm to play every day. The minor league season runs until September of this year. Does that mean Bohm will stay there all month? Teams can add two players to the roster in September.
“No, that doesn’t mean (he’ll stay there until September),” Girardi said. “If he passes 19 for 20 and everything works out… no, we want him to go play and have some fun and relax a bit and start over.”
EFLIN UPDATE
Zach Eflin will leave IL and start Thursday night against Arizona. He hasn’t made a major debut since July 16, when he was ruled out with tendonitis in his right knee.
Eflin made a rehab debut in the minor leagues. It will be limited to around fifty locations on Thursday evening.
With Eflin returning, the Phillies will use Matt Moore as a longman out of the box.
ALVARADO READY
Girardi has indicated that Jose Alvarado is ready to exit IL and will be activated on Thursday. Alvarado had been on the IL with a conflict in his left shoulder which he said was more fatigue than anything else.
Alvarado was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays World Series team last year. Rays staff presented him with his 2020 American League Championship ring during batting practice on Wednesday.
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