PHILADELPHIA -- Andrew Painter is healthy again, which means everybody is talking about him again.

And that means everybody is wondering when he will crack the Phillies¡¯ rotation.

It could happen this summer. In fact, it seems to be the expectation for the 21-year-old right-hander. MLB Pipeline on Friday released its Top 100 Prospects list. Painter ranks No. 8 overall, jumping 24 spots, following his recovery from 2023 Tommy John surgery and an impressive showing in last year¡¯s Arizona Fall League.

Painter, whom the Phillies selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2021 Draft, is one of four Phils in the Top 100. Shortstop Aidan Miller (No. 27), center fielder Justin Crawford (No. 64) and catcher Eduardo Tait (No. 93) are the others.

¡°What I¡¯ve been most impressed with in my time with Andy ¡­ is just the aptitude for the game,¡± Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham said recently.

¡°The ability to think very clearly. You listen to an interview -- you can pick one from the Fall League -- that¡¯s someone that knows himself, knows exactly what the goal was of today. He knows if he did or didn¡¯t do it. In some ways, there¡¯s not emotion to this thing. It¡¯s, here¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do and did I do it or not?

¡°I had lunch with him in Nashville. It¡¯s a big league conversation. The aptitude, the awareness, is very high. And I think on top of his stuff, he has one of the best abilities to land breaking balls in the zone that I¡¯ve seen. It¡¯s like Aaron Nola-esque. It¡¯s easy. Some guys, it¡¯s not as easy. You have to talk about where to start it. Do you aim where you want it to finish? Do you aim where you want to start it? For Andy it¡¯s just, I want to throw it for a strike here and it¡¯s a good breaking ball.¡±

The Phillies will open the season with a five-man rotation that could be the best in baseball with Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Su¨¢rez, Cristopher S¨¢nchez and Jes¨²s Luzardo, whom they acquired in a December trade with Miami. (The Phils traded prospect Starlyn Caba, who ranks No. 81 overall, to get Luzardo.)

But the Phils still see a place this season for Painter, whose workload will be closely monitored throughout the year because he hasn¡¯t pitched in the Minor Leagues since 2022. In fact, Painter will not pitch in a single Grapefruit League game this spring in Florida.

¡°We think it¡¯s a good plan,¡± Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in December. ¡°He¡¯ll build up at some point through the Minors, but we¡¯re going to save a lot of his innings until we get to July-ish for the big league level. It might be June, it might be August, but you can¡¯t use too many of them at the Minor League level.¡±

Maybe there is an injury, presenting Painter an opportunity. Maybe somebody struggles. Or perhaps the Phillies move to a six-man rotation to keep everybody fresh for the postseason.

First, he just needs to get on the mound and stay on the mound.

Second, he needs to pitch well.

But if Painter is on the mound, everybody expects he will pitch well. It is why MLB Pipeline considers him one of the best prospects in baseball.