Phillies Shouldn't Panic Over Andrew Painter Setback

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped the first game of their three-game set against the Houston Astros on Tuesday, falling 6-5 in a heartbreaker.

But while the Phillies missed opportunities to steal a win late, the real story of the night was Andrew Painter, who was shelled to the tune of five runs on 10 hits in five innings.

It marked Painter's first rough outing since Aug. 16, when he surrendered five runs in five frames during a win over the Minnesota Twins.

It also represented just his second truly poor performance since being recalled from the minor leagues in late July.

So, is it time to sound the alarm on Painter, who certainly had his fair share of struggles before being demoted earlier in the season?

Absolutely not.

Bad outings happen, even to the best pitchers, and we can probably chalk Tuesday night's dud up to Painter simply not having his best stuff.

It's not like Painter's control was all over the place. He only walked two batters, and he registered six strikeouts. But he did get battered, and he did surrender a couple of home runs in a start that looked unsettlingly similar to what he was doing in May.

And you know what? That's okay.

Painter is still just 23 years old. He's a rookie. There are going to be some bumps along the way, and for the most part, he has been impressive since being elevated back to the majors, owning a 3.77 ERA and 1.059 WHIP over eight starts.

“The execution wasn’t good,” Painter said of his start against the Astros. “I made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized on them. Obviously, the three-run homer really put us in a hole.”

Painter topped out at 99.6 mph and generated 14 swings and misses, so it wasn't like his stuff wasn't there. It was just one of those nights.

Now, it's up to the right-hander to get back on the mound and shake off the cobwebs in his next outing.

If Painter is able to recover from this in his very next start, then it will prove it was just a blip on the radar. If he labors again, then maybe there is something there.

For now, though, this doesn't really seem like a big deal.