Aidan Miller, Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford among Phillies' invites to spring training
There might not be a new $300 million player to swoon over during spring training this year, but fans heading to Clearwater, Florida, will see the Phillies' top three prospects in major league camp.
Philadelphia on Tuesday announced 23 non-roster invitees, including pitcher Andrew Painter, shortstop Aidan Miller and outfielder Justin Crawford, the club's top three prospects.
Painter is the group's crown jewel and will garner the most attention. In 2023, he was on track to cracking the Phillies' rotation as a 19-year-old before injuring his UCL in his throwing elbow and later requiring Tommy John surgery.
Now 21, Painter is healthy and expected to pitch for Philadelphia in 2025. The Phillies don't have an exact timeline for when Painter will pitch in the majors — they're at least not saying it publicly — but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has said the club believes he'll be part of the rotation at some point.
"He's going to be a starting pitcher. I don't think there's any question about that," Dombrowski said in October. "It's apparent he's healthy, and he'll get a limited number of innings in the Arizona Fall League and then be in a position [where] we're gonna have to make a determination on how we're going to use his innings next year. He's not going to be a guy we can count on to throw 180 innings at the major league level."
In the Arizona Fall League, Painter proved he was healthy by posting a 2.30 ERA and .189 batting average against in 15 2/3 innings. He flashed the high velocity that made him such an intriguing prospect before surgery.
While Painter will be in big league camp, fans shouldn't expect to see him throw in any games. The Phils said in December that they have no plans to pitch him in spring training games.
"He'll throw but not plan on pitching" in games, Dave Dombrowski said in December. "We're going to push the innings back."
Crawford and Miller, the Phillies' first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, respectively, most likely are a year away from contributing at the big-league level.
Miller, 20, spent most of last season in Single-A and High-A before ending the season in Double-A Reading. He played 102 games across three minor-league levels in 2024, finishing with 28 doubles, 11 home runs and 23 stolen bases with a .811 OPS.
The shortstop is the Phillies' top prospect and the 26th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com.
Crawford, the Phillies' Paul Owens Award winner for 2024, hit .313/.360/.444 with a .804 OPS in 2024 with 25 doubles, four triples and nine home runs between Single-A Jersey Shore and Double-A Reading.
Crawford and Miller were on the 2024 National League All-Star Futures Game rosters — Crawford led off.
The 21-year-old Crawford is rated as the Phillies' No. 3 prospect.
Here are the rest of the Phillies' non-roster invitees.
Pitchers
Nabil Crismatt, RHP; José Cuas, RHP; Tristan Garnett, LHP; Joel Kuhnel, RHP; Griff McGarry, RHP; John McMillon, RHP; Nicholas Padilla, RHP; Andrew Painter, RHP; Austin Schulfer, RHP; Nick Vespi, LHP; and Guillo Zuñiga, RHP
Catchers
Josh Breaux, Payton Henry, Paul McIntosh, Caleb Ricketts
Infielders
Rodolfo Castro, Otto Kemp, Matt Kroon, Rafael Lantigua, Aidan Miller, Carson Taylor
Outfielders
Justin Crawford, Gabriel Rincones Jr.