Phillies' Pitching Plans May Have Just Gone Up in Smoke

The Philadelphia Phillies did not add another starting pitcher at the MLB trade deadline because of their confidence in Andrew Painter.

Painter returned from the minor leagues a few days before the Aug. 3 cutoff and tossed six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out six. It was a fine outing for the rookie, who had previously logged a 7.06 ERA in 14 big-league appearances before being demoted to Triple-A.

Understandably, there had been some trepidation regarding the trust in Painter, who notched a WHIP north of 1.6 before being sent down and also couldn't seem to properly locate his fastball.

Plus, Painter is just 23 years old.

Well, the right-hander made another start on Wednesday night, and he actually looked solid in four innings, surrendering one run on three hits with four strikeouts.

But then, Painter exited his start with a hamstring injury, a malady that appeared to surface in the first inning when the youngster slipped during his delivery and winced.

Painter stayed out on the mound through four frames, but was then removed from his outing after 63 pitches.

The Phillies don't seem overly concerned. Neither does Painter, who is hoping to make his next start and doesn't have imaging scheduled.

But we all know how these things work by now.

Chances are, Painter will absolutely not be making his next start, and this whole situation brings Philadelphia's failure to acquire another arm at the deadline into full focus.

It's not that the Phillies didn't try to land a pitcher; they did, but they apparently did not feel the need was urgent enough to address.

Instead, Philadelphia focused on fortifying its bullpen, netting Caleb Kilian and Brooks Raley in separate trades. Of course, the headliner of the day was second baseman Luis Arraez, who came over from the San Francisco Giants in the Kilian deal.

That was all well and good. The Phils needed bullpen help, especially after the loss of top offseason pickup Brad Keller. They also desperately needed another bat, and they bagged arguably the best one available.

But you can't help but fee that the Phillies may have missed the boat on starting pitching, especially because it's not as if Aaron Nola has been all two reliable these last two seasons, either.

Hopefully, Painter is just and only misses one start at the most, but a potential IL stint is certainly looming, and it absolutely exposes a soft area that Philadelphia probably should have repaired earlier this week.