It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for the Philadelphia Phillies. After coming out of the gates slow enough to get manager Rob Thomson fired, they bounced back and got back into a playoff spot. That’s a spot they’re to hold onto after being in a skid since the All-Star Break.
Part of the challenge for the Phillies has been the back end of their starting rotation. At the top, they have multiple Cy Young candidates in Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez. At the bottom, it’s been a mess.
It’s been so bad, in fact, that on Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies did something they haven’t done since May 18th. That’s winning a game that their No. 5 starter pitched in. Prior to that, they had lost 13 straight games when the No. 5 starter pitched.
It was Andrew Painter on the mound for the Phillies. He opened the season as their No. 5 starter but was so bad that he had to be sent down due to his poor play. When he was away, it was Alan Rangel who took his place, but also struggled to actually find wins when he pitched.
Painter was solid against the Cardinals, too. In 5.1 innings, he only gave up 2 earned runs and had 6 strikeouts. That was good enough to put the Phillies in a position to win, with the bullpen holding on, even as Rangel gave up 3 earned runs himself.
Andrew Painter Has Been Much Improved for the Philadelphia Phillies
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies SP Andrew Painter
The Phillies have put a lot on Andrew Painter. A top prospect, the expectation was that he’d slot into the rotation this season and quickly be able to replace the production that they got from Ranger Suarez, who walked in free agency.
That hasn’t been the case, though, especially early in the season. From the start of the season to June 17th, Painter had a 7.06 ERA, and was struggling with giving up home runs, in particular. He went on a run of starts where he gave up 7 home runs in four starts and just 14 innings pitched.
It earned him a demotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. There, Painter was tasked with figuring things out, which it seems like he has so far.
Painter made his return to the Phillies on July 31st. Since then, he’s made three starts and thrown 15.1 innings. He’s only given up 5 earned runs and just a single home run during that time. There’s still a long way to go, but Painter is giving the Phillies some peace of mind at the back end of the rotation.
Andrew Painter is Part of Why the Phillies Didn’t Trade for a Starter
GettyPhiladelphia Phillies SP Andrew Painter
The Phillies surprised some at the Trade Deadline by not making a move for a new starting pitcher. However, Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski had a good reason for it. He’s confident in the back-end of the rotation, particularly as Painter has begun to show improvement.
“I’ve said this all along: you always want to get better at every position. But we feel that if we can make it to the postseason, our starting rotation’s in really solid shape. Other people are looking to add to their top three. In our situation here, that wasn’t a necessity,” Dombrowski said.
“If we were going to do it and add somebody, they would have had to be significantly better, in our opinion, than Andrew (Painter), than just acquiring another arm.”
Clearly, after he’s shown a spark of improvement, there’s still trust within the Phillies organization around Painter. That may not be enough to start a playoff game just yet, but it should help Philadelphia get to the finish line.
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