Offense has been hard to come by in South Philadelphia recently. At a premium, per se. But when the 22-year-old, top-ranked pitching prospect and former first-rounder throws the way he did, that doesn’t matter much. Andrew Painter was dominant in his Major League debut In the Phillies’ nail biting 3-2 win over the Nationals, the Phillies’ rookie delivered a memorable five-and-a-third-inning, one-run, eight-strikeout performance in front of the 40,709 in attendance. He became the youngest club hurler to have that many punch outs in a game since Aaron Nola’s nine on May 14, 2016 against Cincinnati. At times, he was borderline unhittable on Tuesday. Painter’s tip of the cap and the crowd’s deafening ovation on his way off the mound matched one another. Even with the noise, his goal was simple. “I just wanted to be in the zone early,” Painter said. “Get ahead, get into advantage counts and kind of be in the driver’s seat. There wasn’t a moment in the start where Painter looked flustered, part of the calm, cool and collected demeanor that has always followed him. Nothing seemed to phase the right-hander. “He just goes out and pitches and doesn’t get too fired up about anything,” manager Rob Thomson said. The biggest thing attached to Painter’s name since the beginning of last season has been his control — more specifically, his ability to get ahead of hitters. That was the biggest knock in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. But that season was also about getting feel back. And now, from the look of it, he has more than feel. On Tuesday, he was on cruise control. It’s hard enough to command a four-pitch mix. Better yet, a repertoire that now features six pitches. He threw all six of them at at least a 50 percent strike clip. That’s the kind of detail that jumps off the page. The Phillies skipper was impressed with his stuff. “I think he topped out at 99. Command was excellent,” Thomson said. “What he did was, he changed speeds when he got behind in the count, got back in the count.” The pitch that really landed? The curveball. Painter has said his slider is the pitch that helps him get back into the zone, but on Tuesday, the hook was what separated the outing. The hook landed in the zone 60 percent of the time. When he threw it out of the zone, hitters whiffed 50 percent of the time. And 87 percent of them went for strikes. It wasn’t just a chase pitch either. It was part of his in-count adjustment. “It was great,” Painter said of his secondary pitches. “I think the curveball and the backdoor slider were a really good reset for me to get back in the zone.” The full variation of his mix was what made the night so impressive. The first time through the Nationals’ order, Painter used his fastball 53 percent of the time. That dropped to 33 percent the second time around, and the offspeed took on a heavier role. A different set of attack plans showed the maturity in the outing. That kept the Nationals off balance and led to just one hard-hit ball against the 6-foot-7 right-hander. Of the 12 batted balls Washington put in play, just one was hard-hit, and the Nationals finished with an average exit velocity of 82.3 mph. It’s exactly the kind of line the Phillies, Thomson and Painter’s friends and family — nearly 40 of them in attendance — wanted to see. When Thomson took him out, he made sure Painter took the moment in. “I just asked him if he enjoyed it,” Thomson said. “And I said, ‘Just make sure you take in the fan base when you tip your cap and walk off.” The Phillies’ rotation is already filled with notable names, former All-Stars and near-Cy Young winners. Painter, now at the back of it, gives the group a level of upside the club hasn’t been able to carry in a long time. Painter will let himself enjoy it, at least for one night before he looks ahead to his second career start, likely against the Giants next Monday. “Probably tonight,” he said when asked how long he’d take in the performance. “Tonight, and then tomorrow get ready to recover and look forward to the next one.” SCHWARBER’S JOLT It’s been an interesting first handful of games for the Phillies. They were able to manufacture runs against one of the toughest right-handers in the league last year, Nathan Eovaldi, and homered twice in that Opening Day win. Since then, the power had been quieter. So on a night when they needed some run support behind their rookie, they found it — to an extent — the way they know best. Kyle Schwarber got ahold of Zack Littell’s 91.3 mph sinker and drilled it 397 feet at 103 mph off the bat. It smacked the Toyota sign hanging off the second deck in right field. Last year, Schwarber hit .330 against sinkers. He whiffed just 17.8 percent of the time against the pitch, lower than against any other offering he saw. He also slugged .648 against it. His 66.2 hard-hit rate against the sinker last season was the best in Major League Baseball. FIRST IN PHILLY Adolis García joined in on the fun. It was a night of firsts — Painter’s debut, and García’s first homer as a Phillie. The opposite-field solo shot, which would have been a homer in less than a third of parks around baseball, still found the seats in right field. García’s bat speed has been up in a small-sample start to the season, and his swing is much shorter now — a change he made during spring training. And while he’s at his best when he’s pulling the baseball, as he did during his 38-homer 2023 season, using right field at Citizens Bank Park gives him another toy to play with. He had gone the opposite way just 18.2 percent of the time entering Tuesday, but his first homer as a Phillie came at the right time and ended up being the difference in a much-needed win. The Phillies will look to use the enthusiasm of the crowd on Wednesday, when their ace Cristopher Sánchez gets the ball in the rubber game against Washington. ...read more read less