Andrew Painter presses for command; Don Mattingly asked to join NL All-Star staff

The lessons are coming quickly for Andrew Painter in his first major-league season.

Sometimes, though, it’s as basic as throwing a strike.

Take, for instance, the first batter Saturday. Painter fell behind in the count and tried to get White Sox leadoff man Sam Antonacci to swing at a fastball above the zone. Instead, Painter hit him, the beginning of a tone-setting three-run rally in an eventual 6-3 Phillies loss.

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“He beat himself there by trying to command a pitch [in a] 2-1 [count] when I just need you to control the zone and collect a strike and move it to 2-2 on a foul ball,” pitching coach Caleb Cotham said Sunday. “Say that wasn’t commanded as well, but you’re 2-2 now vs. you commanded the heck out of trying to go up and in and you missed two inches left of where you’re trying to go.

“You need to command the count by throwing strikes, and that, for him, comes first. If you’re ahead in the count, you get to throw to more aggressive locations. He’s trying a little too hard to command perfect locations, which gets him behind, and it’s tough to work back from that on good hitters.”

Eleven starts into his major-league career, Painter has a 6.21 ERA, 108th among 111 pitchers who have worked at least 55 innings this season.

It’s not what the Phillies expected from the 23-year-old righty, their most hyped pitching prospect since Cole Hamels.

Most surprising, though, is the ineffectiveness of his fastball. Opponents are batting .390 and slugging 585 on a heater that ranks in the top 75th percentile in average velocity (96.6 mph), according to Statcast.

Some rival talent evaluators suggest that Painter may be able to amplify his fastball by getting more extension through his delivery. With less time to react, hitters perceive the pitch to be even faster than it is.

Despite his 6-foot-7 frame, Painter ranks in only the 51st percentile with 6.5 feet of extension. By comparison, 6-7 Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski reaches upwards of 7.5 feet.

But Cotham is focused on less complicated things.

“I can sit here and say I don’t necessarily care about extension as a metric,” Cotham said. “I think extension is as important as it is for a person to throw good pitches.”

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After the first inning Saturday, in which Painter walked two batters in addition to hitting Antonacci, Cotham said they talked about “trying to let it rip with full belief right down the middle.”

“If he’s in the zone a little bit more, I’ll take my shot there,” Cotham said. “When he’s at his best, he’s controlling down and up. It’s not just this constant up, kind of noncompetitive miss.

“Big-league hitters are very good at hitting fastballs, and obviously the fastball’s gotten hit. But there’s a different type of fastball where it’s like, if I have enough stuff behind it, belief behind it, the same pitch that a guy maybe hits out, now he fouls it off.

“So, I think path through is not, try harder to be more pinpoint. It’s more belief that I’m good enough, and I need to throw strikes when I need to throw strikes and balls when I need to throw balls.”

Fan balloting for the All-Star Game got underway only a few days ago, but the Phillies already have one All-Star.

Interim manager Don Mattingly confirmed that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts asked him to join the National League coaching staff. He deferred comment until MLB announces the staffs, but USA Today reported that Roberts reached out to Mattingly and Cardinals manager Oli Marmol.

It would be the second time that Mattingly has coached in an All-Star Game. As manager of the Dodgers, he was on then-Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s NL All-Star staff in Cincinnati in 2015.

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“Any time you can be involved with the All-Star team, obviously it’s an honor,” Mattingly said, “The All-Star Game is a big deal. It’s kind of like an award show almost for MLB, right?”

Mattingly, hired in January by the Phillies as bench coach, thought his managerial days were over until he was tapped to replace deposed manager Rob Thomson on April 28.

As a player, Mattingly was selected for six consecutive All-Star Games. His favorite memory: meeting Rod Carew at his first All-Star Game in 1984 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

“He was kind of the guy I watched as a kid and kind of patterned hitting after, and Rod signed a bat for me and brought it to me,” Mattingly said. “He obviously read something that I talked about it. That was probably my [biggest memory], just making the first one and then having Rod reach out.”

Top pitching prospect Gage Wood allowed one run in four walk-free innings Friday night for double-A Reading. He has allowed three runs in 11 innings with 14 strikeouts and one walk in three starts since the Phillies promoted him two levels from low-A to double A. ... Cristopher Sánchez (7-2, 1.46 ERA) is scheduled to start at 7:07 p.m. Monday in Toronto against Blue Jays lefty Patrick Corbin (2-2, 3.98).

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Fifty years ago, the All-Star Game came to Philadelphia as part of the bicentennial celebration. Larry Bowa was among five Phillies who represented the National League. With the Midsummer Classic returning to town next month, Bowa joined Phillies Extra to recall the atmosphere surrounding the 1976 game and being an All-Star at Veterans Stadium, as well as the state of the current Phillies. Watch here.

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