Andrew Painter’s rocky rookie season was beginning to turn a corner in the middle of May when he put together a strong three-start stretch between the Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Guardians. He finished six innings in two of those starts and allowed two runs or less in all three. He then met the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodgers Stadium and hit another bump in the road, allowing four runs on seven hits in less than four innings of work.
This start was sort of a new defining mark for a young pitcher that is trying to find his way. Painter entered today with an ERA well over 5 and a FIP well over 4. The fastball has been getting hammered but the slider and splitter have shown promising results when he has good feel for them.
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In the first, Painter hit Sam Antonacci in the elbow guard and walked Miguel Vargas on eight pitches before Caleb Cotham walked up to the mound.
That early mound visit did not help. Andrew Benintendi slapped a single into left field for a run and then Colson Montgomery walked on six pitches. First four batters up, each of them reached base.
Painter was able to get a pair of outs but did not put hitters away. He got to two strikes against Chase Meidroth but the White Sox second baseman put a sweeper in play to move the runners and drive in a run. Painter got to two strikes again to Jacob Gonzalez but hung a splitter enough for a ground ball instead of a strikeout. 3-0.
It got worse when Drew Romo took a two-strike slider down the right field line for Chicago’s fourth run of the inning as boos began to roar that the television broadcast couldn’t hide.
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After a better second inning, Painter returned to the third and ran into more issues. Montgomery crushed a fastball to leadoff the inning. Then, it was Jacob Gonzalez who crushed his first career home run on a hanging splitter that still hasn’t landed.
The rookie right-hander was able to push things to 4.2 innings with no remaining damage but it’s once again another concerning start. In 11 big leagues starts and 12 appearances overall, Painter has a 6.21 ERA and a FIP over 5. Given the lack of other starting pitching options, the Phillies might be forced to let him figure things out but this is the kind of beginning that at least warrants a conversation of being demoted.
Again, things are tricky because the Phillies next best option is probably Alan Rangel, someone with just 14 innings of big league experience as a 28 year old journeyman.
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The White Sox did not need anything else as Tanner Banks, Tim Mayza, and Chase Shugart combined for four and a third innings of work. Banks specifically gave them two and a third which probably saved the bullpen an extra arm for tomorrow.
Alec Bohm caught a hanging Sean Burke cutter in the fourth and then Brandon Marsh crushed a fastball a couple of innings later. With the game at four runs, the Phillies began to make things interesting in the middle of the sixth.
JT Realmuto worked a seven-pitch walk, then Bryson Stott won a challenge that allowed him to reach first base on five pitches. Adolis García kept his hot streak going by slapping a down-and-away slider to right-center for an RBI single.
Mattingly then called for Edmundo Sosa to hit in Justin Crawford’s place when Will Venable went to left handed reliever Sean Newcomb in a high-leverage spot. Sosa struck out looking on a slider.
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The Phillies would not get the tying run to the plate the rest of the way and the game fizzled out.
Aaron Nola gets the ball tomorrow against David Sandlin, who is making his third career start and has a 8.10 ERA in his first ten innings of work.
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