Did the Philadelphia Phillies make a mistake here?
After Andrew Painter's most recent disastrous start in a 12-4 loss to the Miami Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies had seen enough.
The Phillies decided to send Painter to Triple-A to further hone his skills and to perhaps reset his mental state after watching him pitch to the tune of a 7.06 ERA through 14 appearances and 12 starts this season.
Painter certainly showed some flashes over the first couple of months, like in his first start when he allowed just one run while registering eight strikeouts over 5.1 innings. But the right-hander surrendered 21 earned runs over his last four starts, making it through five frames just once during that span.
His WHIP is now 1.662, and his 2.21 K/BB ratio is not exactly forgiving.
So did Philadelphia actually make a mistake handing Painter a spot in the starting rotation to begin with?
The hype surrounding Painter has been palpable ever since he was selected by the Phillies with the 13th overall pick of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Painter logged a minuscule 1.56 ERA during his first full season in Philadelphia's minor-league system in 2022, averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He then suffered a UCL tear in Spring Training the following year, resulting in Tommy John surgery.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter. Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images.The 23-year-old missed all of 2023 and most of 2024. Then, in 2025, Painter posted an unseemly 5.26 ERA across 26 starts between Double-A and Triple-A.
It was clear Painter was still getting his feet back underneath him after such a major surgery, and another full season in the minors probably would have helped.
Instead, the Phillies decided to place Painter in their Opening Day rotation, which seemed to be the plan all along given the ballclub's negligence to address the back end of its rotation over the winter.
Now, it looks like a rash decision by a Philadelphia squad that is smack dab in the middle of the playoff race with just three starters it can trust in Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler and sometimes Jesus Luzardo.
Aaron Nola has been a train wreck for the second consecutive years, and it seems abundantly clear that Painter wasn't ready.
Now, the Pompano Beach, Fl. native will need to rebuild his confidence down in Triple-A after it seemed patently obvious that he had completely lost it in the majors.
Painter is still very young, so there is plenty of time for him to get himself right. He has tremendous stuff, and he could still become a terrific pitcher down the line.
But the Phillies may have sabotaged his development just a tad by fast-tracking him to the big leagues when he clearly wasn't entirely ready.
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