The Philadelphia Phillies, buoyed by great pitching, have erased a bad start to the 2026 season.
Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler have been elite the entire season, and are both NL Cy Young contenders.
However, one piece of the puzzle remains unsolved.
Former top pitching prospect Andrew Painter has had a horrible start to his career. In 12 games (11 starts), Painter is 1-7 with a 6.21 ERA.
The 6-foot-7 flamethrower has been unable to locate his pitches to his liking and has been hit hard as a result.
Despite this, Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly is sticking with his youngster, according to MLB.com’s Paul Casella.
What Did the Philadelphia Phillies’ Manager Say About Painter?
Painter has gotten off to a very rough start to his career. After a 6-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, Mattingly was asked if he was going to stick with Painter.
Without missing a beat, he refuted the possibility of skipping Painter’s next start with an off-day on Thursday.
“Not really,” Mattingly said to Casella. “I think the situation we’re in with our starters, we don’t sit here with four or five guys in Triple-A that you can bring up at any time and fill in a spot. We want to make sure we take care of all our starters with those off-days.”
And Mattingly is right. Even though the minor leagues have an abundance of pitching depth, you can’t expect a guy from Triple-A with no experience to do much better.
While Mattingly would undoubtedly bring a lot of unwanted attention with this statement for a veteran, people have to understand that Painter is a rookie.
Because of this, there will be ups and downs. But there’s been a lot of downs since the beginning of Painter’s professional career.
More On Painter
The Phillies selected Painter in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school.
After an elite 2022 season in the minors, Painter was a consensus top prospect in all of baseball. However, his career would stall when he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023, missing two entire seasons.
He would come back in 2025, but would struggle in Triple-A. Regardless of that, he made the Phillies’ opening day roster in 2026.
Significant upside in Painter’s prospect profile rests on his elite fastball. Despite his fastball being one of the best pitches in the minors throughout his career, he has struggled to make it effective in the majors.
“It’s tough. It’s tough,” Painter said via Casella. “I think we made some adjustments after that first inning, and kind of got away from the four-seam. Wasn’t in the zone with it, so any pitch you’re not in the zone with is not gonna be very effective.”
Overall, opponents are now hitting .390 with four home runs against Painter’s four-seam fastball.
“Just hard to command the ball with that pitch when I don’t really know what the pitch is going to do,” Painter said.
Painter has to regain command of his best pitch if he is to succeed in the major leagues.
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