They’re roommates, ‘skilled chefs,’ and the future of the Phillies’ pitching staff

CLEARWATER, Fla. — When Andrew Painter, Griff McGarry, and Mick Abel were in double-A Reading last season, they began planning ahead to 2023. They decided that if they all were invited to big league spring training, they’d rent a house together on the water. The Phillies’ top pitching prospects didn’t wait long to start tooling around on Airbnb’s website.

They found a place before the spring training roster was released, and decided to book it. This wasn’t a huge risk. Painter, Abel, and McGarry all have a legitimate shot at pitching in the big leagues this season. Painter, 19, could very well become the first teenage pitcher to start for the Phillies since Mark Davis in 1980.

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The young right-handers know they are competing for the same spots, but that dynamic hasn’t driven them apart. If anything, it has bonded them more. Painter rose up the ranks in 2022, jumping from low-A Clearwater to high-A Jersey Shore to double-A Reading. McGarry, 23, and Abel, 21, also went from Jersey Shore to Reading last season, and McGarry wound up at triple-A Lehigh Valley. Before Painter teamed up with them at Jersey Shore and Reading, they followed his starts closely.

After their games, they’d pull up his box scores expecting to see something “monstrous,” in Abel’s words. One night sticks out among the rest. Painter was pitching for Clearwater in late April. He struck out 14 batters and allowed one hit through five innings with no walks.

“We were like, ‘OK, when is he coming up here?’” Abel said. “This guy is an alien.”

About a month-and-a-half later, Painter was pitching for Jersey Shore. The three prospects quickly realized they had more in common than the ability to throw a baseball very hard with relative ease. They all liked to fish. They all liked to cook. They all liked to golf. They had similar tastes in music — although McGarry concedes that they experience it in different ways.

“I’ll play Jeremih, Taio Cruz, Fabolous,” McGarry said. “And at some point I realized that while I probably heard it during a middle school dance, ‘Paint’ probably heard it on his way to kindergarten.”

This type of good-natured ribbing has made the prospect of competing for a spot on the Phillies’ opening-day roster a little less daunting. McGarry, Abel, and Painter insist they rarely talk about baseball in the house. McGarry tried to ask Painter about one of his “electric” bullpen sessions a few days ago, and Painter just responded with a shrug.

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But if you ask him about grilling — specifically, grilling steaks — Painter will talk ad nauseam.

“I’ve been able to eat a few of his masterpieces, and they’ve been great so far,” McGarry said. “He’s got a great rub he puts on the steaks, like a dry seasoning rub. He’s a great chef. We’re eating well at our place.”

More often than not, the topic of conversation in the Painter-McGarry-Abel household is who is going to cook what and when. A few weeks ago, McGarry handled breakfast, making a hefty portion of bacon, pancakes and eggs. Painter normally takes care of dinner.

“Paint goes to the meat market a lot,” Abel said. “Like Griff said, we’ve eaten a lot of steak. We had elk the other night. We had deer. He can cook. It was pretty legit. It was basically just a bunch of steaks.

“I haven’t really contributed that much yet. We’re all very skilled chefs, but I haven’t showed my prowess. I’m waiting for my moment to make them some pasta with vodka sauce. I just need to take over one night and say, ‘All right, the kitchen is mine.’”

For three young guys, Painter, Abel, and McGarry say they’ve kept their house “pretty clean,” with the exception of a few stray suitcases laying around. That in itself has become somewhat of a competition.

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“There’s not a dirty housemate yet, but I know there’s going to be one,” Painter said. “We’ll see who the first one to get lazy is.”

None of them was invited to big league spring training last year. What they’re doing now is entirely new, which can be scary. But the ability to end their days chipping at golf balls in the backyard, or fishing on the bay, or eating a home-cooked meal, has helped to take off some of the pressure.

“It’s so easygoing,” Abel said. “We’re just three best friends who are living together.”