Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter ranked MLB’s No. 33 prospect by The Athletic’s Keith Law

As pitchers and catchers get set to report on Feb. 16, The Athletic's Keith Law ranked the Top 100 MLB prospects to keep an eye on this season with one Phillie cracking the Top 20 - Andrew Painter.

The 20-year-old righty landed in the No. 13 spot on Law’s board after being unranked last season.

Law’s explanation involved Painter's ability to dominate at three levels last season with two plus pitches and his control, walking just two of 109 hitters at Double A.

Painter won’t even turn 20 until April, so he has a lot of time to continue developing, but also a lot of time to get hurt, unfortunately. His delivery is good and he repeats it well, but we’ve seen way too many guys like him get hurt on their way to the majors to ignore the possibility here. If your crystal ball says he’ll stay healthy, he’s a top-10 prospect in baseball, and might have a case to be in the top 6.

Painter started off with Low-A Clearwater and moved up to High-A Jersey Shore and then landed at Double-A Reading.

What struck the baseball writer was Painter's size, standing a massive 6-7, 215 pounds with room to put on more weight.

He’s huge, 6-7, listed at 215 but probably 10-15 pounds stronger than that already, and could just bully hitters with his fastball in Low A, where he started 2022. He’s already working at 94-97 mph over full starts and can reach 99, coming from a high three-quarter slot that makes his two-plane curveball at 76-81 even more devastating.

He went 6-2 with a 1.56 ERA, 0.89 WHIP with 155 strikeouts across 103.2 innings pitched in 2022 and could make a push to appear in the Phillies starting rotation.

He is ranked No. 5 by Baseball America, No. 6 by MLB.com and No. 12 by Baseball prospectus.

Another one of the Phillies prospects made Law's list, as picher Mick Abel landed at No. 77 on the list after being No. 91 last season.

Abel pitched at two levels in 2022, going from High-A Jersey Shore to Double-A Reading.

Abel built up to 108 1/3 innings last year after throwing just 44 2/3 the year prior, cutting his walk rate even through a midseason promotion to Double A. He’s a big, strong righthander, 6-5 and probably 210-215 pounds, built like a workhorse starter, and extends well over his front side.

He was ranked No. 40 by Baseball America, No. 48 by MLB and No. 36 by Baseball Prospectus.

No other Phillies prospects made the cut.

Phillies pitchers and catchers will report to spring training on Feb. 16 with full squads on Feb. 21.