Phillies Make Wise Move With Andrew Painter in Recent Start

The Philadelphia Phillies were shut down in the second game of their series against the Boston Red Sox, losing by a score of 3-1. However, in the loss, there was an encouraging sign for the franchise going forward.

Going up against veteran right-hander Sonny Gray and the Red Sox, the Phillies’ offense had a tough night in the second game of their three-game set. Philadelphia was only able to muster one run. Aside from a home run by Justin Crawford, there weren’t too many other positives for the unit.

While this unit has been much better of late, games like Wednesday create concern about the group still. This is a lineup that has far too much talent on paper to record three hits and one run in a game. Furthermore, it feels like the team has been a little bit of boom or bust of late offensively.

Even though the offensive performance might not have been great, the Phillies did see their young right-hander, Andrew Painter, put together a much better performance. However, despite pitching well, Philadelphia had a quick hook for him.

Manager Don Mattingly recently spoke with Paul Casella of MLB about the decision to pull Painter fairly early in his start against the Boston Red Sox.

“We wanted to be proactive tonight with him,” Mattingly said. “ … Get him going, get some confidence, and obviously, he threw the ball really well tonight. Got his command back. I was happy with him, but knowing we need him all year long, just kind of get him building and let him build off a good start.”

Philadelphia Wisely Building His Confidence

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter pitching — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

After going five innings on just 62 pitches, Painter was clearly rolling on Wednesday night. However, the decision to pull him early and let him see a really strong start on the scoreboard makes sense for the team.

Philadelphia is invested in Painter to be a key part of their rotation for years to come, and he hasn’t had the best of starts in the majors so far. However, Wednesday night was one of the best ones, going five innings and allowing just one run.

What was really great to see from the young right-hander was that he had a lot more control of his pitches. Walks have been an issue in the last couple of poor outings, totaling six in his last two starts. On Wednesday, he didn’t walk a single batter, and that certainly helped translate into the successful outing.

While the Phillies could have let him keep going, getting a nice start under his belt will feel good. With 16 earned runs allowed in his last three starts, seeing a good one should help build his confidence, and it was a wise move by Mattingly. Next up for Painter will be a start back at home against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.

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