Brewers 2021 MLB Draft Prospect Profile: Prep RHP Andrew Painter

We are only a couple days away from the changing of some young men’s lives at the 2021 MLB Draft. We here at Reviewing the Brew have been previewing players we think the Brewers could end up selecting and today we’ll look at 2018 WBSC U-15 World Cup winner, Andrew Painter.

Currently ranked as the 18th best MLB Draft prospect via MLB Pipeline, many think Painter will be taken around the middle to later stages of the 1st Round. With the Brewers having the 15th overall pick, that would probably be their only chance to choose the decorated hurler.

Do the Brewers like what they see with Painter enough to take a chance on him with their first pick? Let’s explore the young righty’s success so far and look at his pitching profile.

With a 6’6″ frame and weighing in at 215 pounds, Andrew Painter doesn’t have the build of a recently graduated high school senior. And he doesn’t pitch like one either. The right-handed pitcher out of Calvary Christian Academy in Florida has been looked at as one of the top two prep pitchers in this year’s draft alongside Jackson Jobe.

As mentioned, Painter represented the US back in 2018 at the WBSC U-15 World Cup in Panama and he put on a dazzling performance in the tournament. It was the United States’ first time winning the tournament in this age bracket and they rattled off six wins in a row after dropping the first to take home the gold. All Painter did in the tournament was go 2-0 in 10 innings, giving up eight hits, three walks and only one earned run.

He even started the World Championship Game against Panama and went 5.1 strong innings striking out five and surrendering only one run. He was named the Best Starting Pitcher in the tournament.

In high school, he put up ridiculous numbers as well. This past season he pitched 45.1 innings and went 6-1 with a 0.31 ERA , 91 strikeouts, 14 walks and a 0.91 batting average against. Over the span of his four year high school career, he went 20-4 with a 0.78 ERA and 233 strikeouts. He was recently named the Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year.

So he already has racked up plenty of credentials and achievements in his young baseball career. But moving forward will that early success translate to the professional scene?

Andrew Painter has a very high baseball IQ and he sticks with his game plan on the mound. He is very self aware and when you mix all of that with how raw his stuff is, you start to see scouts salivate.

He utilizes a four-pitch mix (with a recently tinkered on changeup) and has two fastballs (2 seam and 4 seam) that he gets a good amount of swings and misses with up in the zone that come in around the mid-90s. His off-speed package is above average as well with a 12-6 curveball in the upper 70s and a slider that hovers around the mid-80s.

He has very solid command, is a great athlete for being as tall as he is and looks to be very comfortable in his delivery. There are about as few holes as you’ll see for a high school pitcher getting ready to be taken in the MLB Draft.

There is always risk with taking high school prospects, especially in the first round, so that is definitely something that the Brewers front office will have to keep in mind. But overall, Andrew Painter seems to be a pick that some executives might want to throw at the dartboard and see if some magic happens.

Painter is committed to play at the University of Florida.