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It’s Pretty Cool to See Garrett Stubbs Mentor Andrew Painter
By Kyle Pagan
Published:
Andrew Painter pitched well in his limited AAA debut Thursday night. His final tally is definitely something he can build on:
That curveball was NASTY. Setting that up 1-2 after trying to catch up to 98 mph earlier in the at-bat will make any hitter on any level look silly. Painter mowed through the minors with a slight injury hiccup, but is now in AAA to learn how to pitch in the majors. Hopefully if all goes well and he’s up pitching at CBP by July and getting ready for a deep playoff run this year. The Phillies are starting to get their shit together winning nine of their last eleven, the bats are coming alive, and they could use all the righties they can get.
Garrett Stubbs, on the other hand, is the CAPO right now. The Chief Andrew Painter Officer. Painter started to become a little erratic at the end of his debut. He said after the game that he wasn’t nervous. Stubbs broke his balls a little and called him a liar:
It’s pretty cool to see Stubbs is willing to mentor Painter and the other guys down in AAA while bringing that Major League experience on and off the field. Say what you want about Stubbs, and a lot of people on social media like to, but he’s been aces the entire time on the Iron Pigs. Don’t know how many guys would do that. Stubbs has experienced the highs of a World Series run and the lows of being demoted after five seasons in the big leagues. Combine that with his aspirations to get back there and it’s gotta be an even harder pill to swallow when you go from flying chartered flights and five-star hotels to riding buses and staying at a random Motel 6 in Rochester. He’s still keeping an amazing attitude that made him one of the greatest glue guys the MLB has ever seen, according to Scott Lauber at the Inky:
Stubbs isn’t about to change just because he’s back in the minors for the first time since 2021. If anything, he took it as a chance to bring a slice of the Phillies’ major-league culture to triple A. So, upon observing that the IronPigs enjoyed the bowling event, he turned into a regular Jeff Lebowski.
“It started when AC scheduled a team outing, and Stubbs has pretty much organized every single one since,” pitching prospect Mick Abel said this week before a game at Coca-Cola Park. “He’s always like, ‘OK, all right, when do we bowl?’”
“Stubbs wrangles as many teammates as possible for well-attended bowling get-togethers on nights off at home and on the road. They call themselves the “Lehigh Valley IronPins,” and from the sound of it, they’re poised to take over league nights across the region.
He’s also still keeping tabs on the big league guys. He texted Taijuan Walker after his three inning save the other night and is even helping pitching coach Caleb Cotham with things he sees when watching the big league staff. He’s going above and beyond for this organization and there aren’t many in pro sports that would do that.
Kyle writes blog posts and does Man on the Street-style videos all around Philadelphia. He graduated from Temple University (a basketball school) in 2015. contact: k.pagan@sportradar.com