Andrew Painter strikes out six in win over Cards

It sounds like Painter could have pushed forward on the hamstring had the Phillies wanted him to, but they opted to play it safe. Painter said he feels good about making his next start, which would figure to be against the Cardinals assuming nothing moves around.

Painter threw just 63 pitches over four innings during his second start back in the majors. He finished with four strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits over four frames. The 23-year-old former top pitching prospect will undergo further evaluation to determine the severity of the issue and whether he’ll require a trip to the injured list. It’s not an ideal development for the Phillies since they don’t have a ton of starting pitching depth and just passed the trade deadline. There should be a decision on his status later this week.

Painter took the mound with a 2-0 lead and immediately gave it back. A leadoff double by Dylan Beavers got things started for the O’s and was followed by a two-run homer by Pete Alonso to draw things even at 2-2. Despite the rough start, Painter settled in to allow just one hit over his remaining five innings of work while striking out six batters, his most in any game since May 2nd against the Marlins. Painter was promoted from Triple-A to start tonight’s game. If he sticks around for another start, it will most likely come on Wednesday at home against the Nationals.

Painter didn’t exactly figure it out at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he had a 4.56 RA and 25 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings over five starts. We wouldn’t be looking for a reason to start Painter in his return to the bigs tonight, though it’s certainly possible the Phillies can outbludgeon the Orioles.

The Phillies won’t have another off day until August 14th, so they need a spot starter for today’s game. This also gives them an opportunity to showcase Painter as a potential trade chip at the deadline while the Phillies search for another reliable starting pitcher. The 23-year-old has struggled this year but is improving lately, allowing three runs in his last 11 Triple-A innings while striking out 14. Part of that success has been Painter looking at his metrics after a poor start on July 10th and realizing that too few of his secondary pitches were in the strike zone, allowing hitters to sit on his four-seam fastball. We’ll see if he can carry those lessons into his next MLB start.

The writing was on the wall after Painter was torched for six runs over two innings during Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Marlins. The 23-year-old top pitching prospect has a bright future but he’s struggled mightily in his first opportunity in the majors, posting a bloated 7.06 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 53/24 K/BB ratio across 65 innings. He earns a ticket back to the minors after allowing five runs in three consecutive starts since June 6. He can be safely dropped in all re-draft fantasy formats at this juncture.

The rookie right-hander struck out three, walked two, and allowed six hits, including two home runs. His ERA now sits at a ghastly 7.06 through 65 major-league innings. A former top prospect, Painter had a 32.4 K-BB% and a 1.56 ERA in over 100 minor-league innings back in 2022. Arm injuries derailed him from there, and it’s fair to wonder if the Phillies will keep rolling him out to start in a win-now season. Things won’t get any easier if Painter sticks around for his next rotation turn against the Nationals in Washington.

Painter’s struggles continued here. Even as the Phillies tried to take some pressure off him by having him follow an opener, he still wasn’t even close to being effective. After mixing up his repertoire a good bit over his last few outings, he refocused on his fastball and slider and threw them a combined 77% of the time. Last time out, they combined for just 39% of his total pitches and hung around 50% for the two prior. An adjustment is something, but it didn’t lead to better results and mostly seemed due to the fact that he struggled to command anything else. Sadly, the former top prospect and his 6.43 ERA should not be trusted in any league at this time.

It was more of the same here for Painter in another poor outing. The White Sox jumped all over him for four runs in the first inning after their first four batters reached base via two walks, a hit batsmen, and a single. Then, he almost squirmed out of it with just two runs on the board before an 11-pitch battle with Tristan Peters ended with a two-out, two-run double. Then, he gave up two solo home runs in the third and was pulled with runners on second and third in the fifth before Tanner Banks cleaned up his mess. Despite mixing up his repertoire lately to try and hide his subpar fastball, good results have not followed for Painter who left this outing with a rough 6.21 ERA on the season. He’s scheduled to face the Brewers next time out.

Painter gave up six hits, walked two and struck out three. He fell to 1-5 with the loss. Painter has a 5.40 ERA on the season, though his 4.35 xFIP points to better days ahead. He was a popular pickup in fantasy, but he’s not contributing much in any of the categories right now. Painter’s WHIP is 1.46 and he has 40 strikeouts in 50 innings. Fantasy managers need to find a better option than using Painter against the Dodgers on the road next weekend.