The Philadelphia Phillies continued their sudden surge up the standings with a 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night, pushing their record to 25-23. Considering where the Phillies were just a couple of weeks ago after firing their manager, Rob Thomson, it’s safe to say that all this winning has been a welcome sight for the team.
Against Cincy, Philadelphia managed to find a way to come out on top, even though interim manager Don Mattingly made a curious decision to pull starting pitcher Andrew Painter from the game after six innings of work, even though he had only thrown 69 pitches to that point. And while Mattingly’s decision was a head scratcher, it appears he’s intent on taking a patient approach with Painter moving forward.
Don Mattingly’s Andrew Painter Approach Catches Phillies Fans’ Attention
Painter entered the year as one of the most highly-touted pitching prospects in baseball, and he ended up cracking the Phillies’ Opening Day roster. The start of his career in the pros was quite ugly, though, prompting Mattingly to change up the team’s usage of Painter once he took over for Thomson.
That simply started with building up his confidence. With Painter looking better as of late, Mattingly has opted not to push things with him, pulling him early from his two most recent starts, despite the fact that he has been pitching well. While it may seem confusing, Mattingly doesn’t want to leave Painter in too long and have his progress from earlier in the game get erased.
Through his first nine outings, Painter’s numbers still aren’t great (1-4, 5.77 ERA, 37 K, 1.49 WHIP), but he’s shown considerable improvement over his past two outings. Mattingly could have opted to leave Painter in for longer against the Reds, but lifting him from the game early is merely a part of his plan to build up the young right-hander’s confidence.
“Painter completed six innings for the first time in his young career in the club’s 5-4 win over the Reds at Citizens Bank Park. Yet despite being at only 69 pitches and having retired 10 consecutive batters, he did not come back out for the seventh,” Paul Casella wrote for MLB.com. “After Painter struggled to a 6.89 ERA through his first seven big league outings, the Phillies are simply trying to build up the confidence of the highly touted 23-year-old rookie.”
Phillies Are on a Roll After Their Slow Start to the Season
GettyPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – MAY 07: Don Mattingly, interim manager for the Philadelphia Phillies, walks to the dugout after a pitching change against the Athletics during a game at Citizens Bank Park on May 07, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
While Mattingly’s decision to pull Painter early in his last start against the Boston Red Sox didn’t pan out, it worked perfectly against the Reds. This is just another example of how Mattingly’s conviction in his managerial strategies has helped Philadelphia climb out of the huge hole it dug for itself early in the season.
The Phillies look every bit like the playoff contender everyone was expecting them to be entering the season, but they still have a lot of work to do moving forward. That starts with simply continuing to win games on a consistent basis, as Philadelphia will look to win its sixth-straight contest when it returns to action on Tuesday night.
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