Rob Thomson proud, but not surprised at Andrew Painter's success
Hear Rob Thomson's full post game media availability after Andrew Painter's debut and a 3-2 win over the Nationals.
Rob Thomson proud, but not surprised at Andrew Painter's success originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Video Transcript
What did you make of Painter's debut?
Fantastic.
Vilo was, I think he topped out at 99.
Command was excellent.
first pitch strikes, 11 for 21, something like that.
But what he did was he changed speeds behind the count.
Got back in the count, he landed his curve ball or cha- or, or slider.
I thought he, I thought he was really, really good.
Is that the best you've seen his curve ball?
probably, you know.
I'm trying to think back to spring training games, but, it's been good in the pa- it was really good tonight.
He got into a couple jams and dealt with some bad luck.
What enabled him to get out of those tough spots tonight?
He's just got great poise.
He knows how to pitch and, and, you know, like I said, he changed speeds behind the count.
He kept people off balance, and then he's got the power fastball to go with it, so Did you feel like in the fourth and fifth inning when he started to rack up the K's that he was starting to really find it there?
Yeah, but some longer innings, like 22 pitches, 21 pitches.
so going out in the sixth, you know, he was getting to his pitch count.
so as soon as somebody got on, I went, went out and got him.
You put your hand on his chest and you looked like you said something.
What, what did you say to him?
You put your hand on his chest.
He looks like you said something.
I just asked him if he enjoyed it, you know?
What'd he say?
He, he's Well, he shook his head no, and then he said-- and then he figured out what I said.
And then he shook his head yes.
And I said, "Just make sure you, you tip the fan base when you tip your cap when you walk off."
The rest of the team seemed pretty excited by him.
Can you talk about the other players', reaction to his performance?
Yeah.
You know, we've been waiting for a while for this and, and so have our players.
And, you know, whether it's Painter or Crawford or when those young guys come up, you know, there's a lot of excitement and, and guys root for them because they remember their first appearance or, or, or game in the big leagues and, and they were very excited for him and, and it brings some energy to the club.
On a similar note, after a few tough days, it felt like Andrew performing well on the mound gave a jolt to the, to the ballpark.
How much do you think that helped you guys today bounce back this way?
I think so.
I mean, our fan base always helps our guys, you know, when they're boisterous and loud and supportive.
but I, you know, I thought we played very well today.
And I thought we swung the bats a lot better today.
We hit, we hit a lot of balls hard that, you know, for outs.
So, yeah, you know, it was good to see Schwarber put one in the seats.
Garcia had great at-bats.
Marsh had really good at-bats.
Bohm hit the ball hard twice.
so, you know, it's good.
Another positive-- I'm sorry.
Another positive tonight was, the eighth and ninth inning combo of, Keller and Duran.
Yeah.
And it really looked like it was kinda expected to look.
And how, how optimistic does that make you?
Yeah, those guys are You know, we didn't have Alvarado tonight because of the pitch count last night.
But, but those guys are, are power guys.
They throw strikes, and Keller, you know, had the one walk, and he was a little upset about it.
But, those guys throw strikes, and they get both sides out.
it's a good combination.
You said you guys have been waiting a long time for this.
What did it mean to you both as a manager of this team and also kind of, a, as a steward of the organization kind of long term, getting him out there and, and seeing him pitch like this?
Yeah.
You know, this, if, if we can keep him healthy, this guy's gonna be really good for a long time.
He's gonna have a really great career.
he's, he's one of those upper echelon guys.
He's, you know, he's got the combination of power and command.
yeah, it's-- the future is bright for him.
I mean, some guys, you, you, you wonder how they're gonna react, but everything with him just looks so- He's stoic, man.
He, you know, he just, he just goes out and pitches and doesn't get too fired up about anything, so it's good.
What was his demeanor like before the game and both in between the innings?
Great.
You know, I walked in the training room.
he- they were getting him ready to go out to play catch and, just told him, you know, "Have fun, enjoy the moment, be yourself."
and he was calm, cool, so it's good.
Is that something you typically, when a rookie is about to make a big start like that, that you kind of have your radar up on how their demeanor is going into this?
Sure.
And I, I wasn't too worried about him because that, that's just kinda who he is.
Now, other guys, you might, you know, try to calm him down or, say something to make him laugh or whatever.
But with him, he's-- it was just another day at the ballpark.
Did, did you expect that he would be able to throw his off-speed stuff or strikes the way he did, the, the sweeper and the changeup it seems especially?
Well, I don't know how-- I don't know if you can ever expect a guy in his first start to do the things he normally does, but he did.
And, that's really good to see.
