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It had been six years since the Phillies used their top pick on a pitcher when they made Mick Abel the first high school arm off the board, 15th overall, in the 2020 draft.

There was Aaron Nola in 2014, Abel in 2020 and then Andrew Painter a year later.

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Nola was viewed coming out of LSU as a fast riser with well-above-average command and he lived up to the billing, speeding through the Phillies' minor-league system and debuting 13 months after his draft date.

Painter was viewed as a potential phenom, a massive right-hander with a classic pitcher's frame, upper-90s velocity and impressive secondary stuff. After only one full season in the minors, he was the perceived front-runner for

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