PHILADELPHIA – Nearly 650 miles away from Citizens Bank Park, Andrew Painter took the mound at Victory Field in Indianapolis, Indiana, to make his fifth start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley since being sent down after a woeful start to his highly anticipated big league career.
It was arguably the best outing for the former top pitching prospect for the organization from a line score standpoint. But perhaps more importantly, from a pitching perspective, with his fastball looking the best it had all season despite dialing back the usage of the pitch.
The velocity carried throughout the outing averaging 98 mph, a tick up from his yearly average velocity at 96.5 mph, including touching 99 mph against his final batter. Of his 31 fastballs thrown 35% of them were either called a strike out swung and missed at.
Painter spun six quality innings, the first five being shutout, scattering five hits and striking out six. More importantly, he did not walk a batter, showing finer command throwing 61 of his 90 pitches for strikes.
However, with the Phillies’ fifth spot in the starting rotation still in limbo, Painter isn’t expected to rejoin the staff anytime soon.
“When we sent Painter out, it was not going to be something where it’s like, oh now he’s ready, now he’s good,” interim manager Don Mattingly said.
“It was going to be, let Andrew develop, let him work, keep letting him get better and when he’s ready, we will see him again.”
The former 13th overall pick in 2021 has had mixed results since going back down to Lehigh Valley on June 17.
In five starts, the 23-year-old has posted a 4.56 ERA in 23 ⅔ innings with 25 strikeouts and eight walks while opponents are hitting .283 against him.
However, outside of his rough outing on July 10 where he was tagged for seven runs on eight hits in less than three innings, Painter has bounced back.
Since that blowup, Painter has allowed three earned runs in 11 innings. Although he’s allowed more than a hit (12) per inning during the stretch, he has walked just one batter, an improvement from the seven free passes he issued in his first three starts since the demotion.
As for who will take the ball for the Phillies when that fifth turn in the rotation comes up, the answer to the recurring question for over a month still remains to be determined. Although Mattingly possibly provided a hint that it could be Brian Keller who started Saturday’s game giving up a solo home run in three innings of work allowing just two hits total while striking out three.
“He’s still here,” Mattingly said about the journeyman. “So that gives you some sort of insight on what we’re thinking.”
Of course, that is still subject to change with Keller’s turn in the rotation not coming until the final day of the month when the team begins a road series in Baltimore.
Painter’s next scheduled start on regular rest is slated for that same Friday, coinciding with Keller’s potential next outing.
The Phillies and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski can still find a serviceable fifth starter to help eat the innings needed to get through the remainder of the regular season before the August 3 trade deadline.
Whether that is from an unexpected, and more than unlikely big splash, or a veteran type arm like Brady Singer or Bailey Ober to add to the rotation remains to be seen.
As for now, it appears Painter won’t be getting a shot at redemption in the near future as a short-term fix for the carousel that is the fifth spot in the rotation he once held.
