The Phillies selected a scuffling starter Andrew Painter at Triple-A Lehigh Valley after today’s game. They will miss another reliever tomorrow to replace him on the active roster.
Painter gave up six runs on as many hits as he went just two innings in today’s blowout loss at the hands of the Marlins. The rookie righty has given up at least a run in each inning in four straight starts. He’s up to a nasty 7.06 earned run average for the season, and is now tied for the third most earned runs allowed in MLB (51). Only four pitchers, two of whom pitched at Coors Field, allowed more runs overall. The Phillies are 2-12 in Painter’s appearances, all of which have been starts or exits after the opener.
There isn’t much in the underlying grades to suggest any kind of future arrest. Painter hasn’t missed many at-bats and has been vulnerable to the long ball. Miami got him a few more homers today, pushing him to 1.94 per nine innings on the season.
It’s clearly not the start to Painter’s MLB career that he or the team envisioned. A first-round pick out of high school in 2021, Painter was widely viewed as the best player in the game by the end of his first full major league season. He might have reached the Majors by the ’23 campaign if not for an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Painter would miss two full seasons in the league and was not sharp when he returned.
The 6’7″ righty spent most of last year in Triple-A. He made 22 starts and posted a 5.40 ERA. The hit and walk profile was solid, but he struggled to keep the ball in the park even against Triple-A hitters. Painter’s fastball, in particular, has been a problem since the injury.
He still has above-average velocity, sitting around 97 mph, but he doesn’t have the same back-to-back life at the top of the strike zone. Major league hitters ignored it, hitting around .400 while making contact on 90% of their swings. Even with a strong secondary, it’s hard to have consistent success without the ability to attack hitters in the zone with a fastball.
Despite mediocre numbers in Triple-A, the Phillies locked Painter in as their fifth starter early in the season. They didn’t make a big effort to re-sign Guard Suarez. They knew them Zack Wheeler will open the season on the injured list, leaving rotation spots for both Painter and Taijuan Walker. The latter’s performance was bad enough for the Phillies to release him before the end of April, opening up a trade for Wheeler’s return.
The top half of Philadelphia’s circulation is very good. Christopher Sánchez he is arguably the best pitcher in the National League. Wheeler made a remarkable comeback from thoracic outlet surgery, posting a 2.01 ERA while averaging over six innings over his first 10 innings. Jesus Luzardo it exploded again after being blown up several times in April.
Aaron Nola he’s stuck in the fourth rotation by default, but he’s holding an ERA around 6.00 for the second year in a row. Nola has also hit a homer in the back half of his career. The final rotation area now seems wide open. Alan Rangel they are the only other healthy starter on the 40-man roster. He has six games of MLB experience, all out of the bullpen. Rangel has a 3.74 ERA with a solid strikeout and walk mark in 65 frames at Triple-A this year, but only completed five innings in one of his last minor league seasons.
Tucker Davidson again Bryse Wilson They are the only player not to have an ERA north of 6.00 in the Lehigh Valley. Chuck King again Drake Fellows they have no big league experience. The Phillies have an off day on Friday but will be on a 13-game hitting streak, so they will need a fifth starter by the middle of next week.
