Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter made his return to the mound on Saturday, tossing two innings, giving up three hits, two runs, and notching two strikeouts in an Arizona Fall League game.

It was the first time the Phillies' No. 2 prospect (MLB No. 32) had pitched in a live game since Spring Training 2023.

The reports on Painter were solid, as he hit 100mph in the first inning, prompting former MLB general manager Jim Bowden to make a bold prediction about the former first-round pick.

The former MLB executive, who is now a host on SiriusXM's "Inside Pitch" on MLB Network Radio, says he is predicting Painter to be the 2025 National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander was the team's first-round draft choice, 13th overall, in the 2021 MLB Draft and is returning from Tommy John surgery back in July of 2024. Since being drafted, Painter is 6-2 with a 1.48 ERA. 0.85 WHIP and has racked up 167 strikeouts in just 109.2 innings pitched.

He is considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and is expected to compete for a role in the Phillies starting rotation at Spring Training in 2025.

I expect Painter to be a key part of the Phillies rotation in 2025, making the starting rotation much deeper and giving them a legitimate option every fifth day, something they did not have in 2024 with Taijuan Walker, Tyler Phillips, Kolby Allard, and others trying to hold down the No. 5 spot during the 2024 season.

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Gallery Credit: Josh Hennig/Townsquare Media

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