Phillies recall Andrew Painter before Friday’s game vs. Orioles
The team recalled Painter from triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday to start the series opener against the Orioles.
BALTIMORE — Andrew Painter was going to pitch Friday night, one way or another.
The Phillies decided it was best if he pitched for them.
And so, six weeks after Painter got demoted to triple A with a 7.06 ERA, the Phillies recalled him to start the series opener against the Orioles and sent righty Brian Keller to Lehigh Valley.
“Just listening to the pitching people, they felt good about where he was at, confident,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “And from there, we thought it really gives us the best chance to win a game tonight.”
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With the trade deadline looming at 6 p.m. Monday, the Phillies are still looking to fill multiple needs, according to league sources. Among them: a back-end starter. The Phillies are 5-21 from the fifth-starter spot that originally was occupied by Painter, including 11 losses in a row.
The Phillies have fanned out their scouts in recent weeks to get looks at various pitchers, including the pending free agents Clay Holmes (Mets), Kevin Gausman (Blue Jays), and Robbie Ray (Giants). One rival evaluator theorized that the Phillies could reduce the prospect return by paying down the remainder of a contract. Gausman and Ray, for instance, are owed roughly $8 million through the end of the season.
It’s notable, too, that the Tigers and Mets scratched righties Casey Mize and Freddy Peralta, respectively, from scheduled starts Friday night. Both are pending free agents with a profile that would interest the Phillies.
Painter, untouchable in previous trade talks, began the season in the majors but got demoted in mid-June with a 7.06 ERA in 14 games (12 starts). His bread-and-butter fastball was particularly ineffective, with opponents hitting .404 and slugging .660 against it.
“Most of it is delivery-oriented,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said at the time. “That’s what it comes down to. Because when he’s done some things with his delivery, which is going more directly to the plate rather than spinning off, he’s had more life. And you see it at times.”
Painter has a 4.56 ERA in five triple-A starts, though he has allowed two or fewer runs in four starts and completed the sixth inning twice. Last week, he allowed a total of three runs on 12 hits in 11 innings over two starts, including one run in six innings Sunday. The Phillies were particularly encouraged that he walked only one batter, none Sunday.
“The biggest thing for us has been his command’s been good, confidence has been good,” Mattingly said. “The guys down there felt like that’s the best they’ve seen throw the ball, so it felt like it was time.”
Painter’s status beyond Friday will presumably hinge on the Phillies’ ability to trade for a veteran starter who could slot in behind Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo and alongside Aaron Nola.
But Mattingly said the Phillies weren’t viewing Painter’s return as temporary.
“There’s no talk of like, he pitches today and he’s out tomorrow and we bring a bullpen guy in and we have an extra arm,” Mattingly said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of talk about the future. It was like, ‘This is the best guy for us to win a game today.’”
Matt Klentak's fingerprints are still on the Phillies' roster six years after he was the team's general manager. These days, Klentak is part of the front office for the Brewers, who recently clinched their fourth consecutive NL Central title. With the Brewers coming to town Tuesday, Klentak joined Phillies Extra to discuss his current and former teams. Watch here.
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