The Phillies are in the market for a starting pitcher this trade deadline season primarily due to the failure of Andrew Painter to stick in the rotation. The team planned for their top prospect to occupy the fifth starter’s role this season, but after a 1-8 record and 7.06 ERA through 14 games by mid-June, it became clear that Painter was not close to capable of filling that role, at least for now. The Phillies have soldiered on without him but are still in dire need of a back of the rotation arm,
something that will be discussed at length over the days leading up to the deadline.
However, Painter has started to improve while pitching for Lehigh Valley. His latest start came Sunday in which he delivered six innings and allowed one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Perhaps most noteworthy, Painter’s fastball velocity was up, averaging 97.9 MPH and touching 99, and he held it through 90 pitches. It was Painter’s second straight encouraging start, following a game on July 21st where he allowed two runs in five innings on seven hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.
Painter is very much still a work in progress, as he and the team are still trying to find ways to recapture some of what was lost on his fastball following Tommy John surgery. He is showing positive signs and results these last couple of starts, but he is also still working on things, as evidenced by the team having him almost exclusively throw his fastball and sweeper and not focusing too much on the rest of his arsenal at the moment.
Nevertheless, it’s been interesting to see how despite the continued struggles of the fifth starter role, Painter’s name has not really been mentioned again as a possibility. It’s likely that the team would prefer to have him string together a longer chain of encouraging performances before even entertaining the idea, perhaps rather preferring to have him spend the rest of the season improving in Triple-A. But, if the fifth starter spot continues to be a problem and the team either suffers an injury in the rotation or fails to sufficiently address it at the deadline, maybe Painter could be considered again.
So, will Andrew Painter pitch in the majors again this season? Should he?
