The Phillies have seen enough from Andrew Painter to know the upside is real. Since his return to the starting rotation on July 31 against the Baltimore Orioles, the young right-hander has started to steady himself after a rocky introduction to the majors.
Painter’s first career win came against the Washington Nationals, but he then went through a stretch without another victory until Aug. 10 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
That outing mattered for both him and Philadelphia, especially with Painter, Alan Rangel and Jonathan Bowlan as the only pitchers available that night. The Phillies have now won back-to-back games started by Painter, a sign he’s moving in the right direction.
Still, there’s one issue that keeps jumping off the page: the first inning.
Painter was hit hard again in his latest start, giving up a grand slam to Brooks Lee of the Minnesota Twins in the opening frame. That pushed his first-inning ERA to 9.56, the worst mark among pitchers who have started at least 15 games, according to Cole Weintraub of NBC Sports Philadelphia. For a Phillies starter, it’s the roughest first-inning number since Paul Byrd posted a 14.11 ERA in 2000.
“The first was super tough,” Painter said. “It took a little bit to get in the rhythm there and obviously put the team in a really tough spot.”
That kind of early damage can wreck a night in a hurry, but Painter did a better job of settling in this time. Unlike earlier in the season, when one bad inning could send everything off the rails, he recovered and worked through four more innings to keep Philadelphia in the game.
His only other blemish came in the bottom of the third, when Kody Clemens homered for a solo shot.
“It was almost like I was trying to find the zone to start the game,” Painter said. “I thought the stuff was really good, but the execution just wasn’t.”
The bigger question now is whether the Phillies need to change something to help him get rolling earlier. Painter has been excellent once he gets beyond the first inning, and the numbers since his return from Triple-A Lehigh Valley back that up: over four starts, he owns a 1.69 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and .130 batting average outside the first inning.
So what’s the fix? Maybe it’s something in the pregame routine.
Maybe the club considers an opener. Maybe the first inning is becoming the test case for how to simulate game speed better before Painter settles in.
However they choose to attack it, the Phillies have a clear issue to solve with their young starter, and it’s something they’ll be looking at down the stretch.
In Other News...
Phillies Make A Rotation Move That Could Matter In Wild-Card Race
With the National League wild-card chase tightening, the Phillies have added a familiar kind of late-season arm help, signing a left-hander with big-league rotation experience for the rest of the year. The move comes with Philadelphia holding a slim edge over the Padres, who are fighting to stay in the mix themselves and are sitting just ahead of Arizona in the race for one of the last playoff spots.
The appeal for the Phillies is simple: extra depth for a starting staff that could be tested in the stretch run. The pitcher is healthy again after missing time following surgery, and Philadelphia is betting his return gives the club another option as it tries to protect its place in the standings and navigate the final weeks with a little more stability on the mound. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Eye Late Pitching Insurance As Rotation Pressure Builds
The Phillies came through the trade deadline without adding a starting pitcher, and that leaves their rotation depth under a little more pressure as the season stretches on. One possible answer is already sitting in the free-agent market, where Philadelphia is reportedly in talks with a left-hander who has spent time both in the rotation and in relief and has the kind of versatility a contender can always use.
The fit makes sense on paper because the club could fold him into a long-relief role or even stretch him into a six-man setup if the schedule and health picture demand it. There is still plenty to sort out, though, including where he stands in his recovery and whether the Phillies can actually finish the process, so this remains one of those late-summer roster watch items worth keeping an eye on. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Rotation Decision Leaves One Lingering Question After The Deadline
The Phillies did plenty of deadline shopping, but the one move many expected never came: they still did not add a starting pitcher, even after Dave Dombrowski acknowledged that rotation help was a need. That left open a familiar question for a team trying to position itself for October, especially with the market offering a few familiar names and the rotation still carrying its own uncertainties.
Michael Lorenzens name naturally surfaced when the Rockies designated him for assignment, but Philadelphia went in a different direction and signed Nestor Cortes Jr. instead. Given Lorenzens recent performance, the Phillies may have decided he was not clearly an upgrade over Aaron Nola or Andrew Painter, which makes the decision sensible on paper and intriguing in practice. The bigger issue now is whether the front office has already settled the rotation puzzle, or whether this is the kind of deadline omission that lingers once the games tighten up. [Read more 🡒]