Following their 12-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, in which Andrew Painter was roughed up for six runs over just two innings, the Phillies are making a change at the back end of their rotation by sending Painter down to Triple-A.
Philadelphia has exhausted numerous approaches with Painter, from altering his pitch mixes to limit fastball damage, to deploying an opener, to giving him 14 outings to find his footing. Despite all that, his 7.06 ERA across 65.0 innings shows that no adjustment produced lasting results.
Over the season’s first two-and-a-half months, the Phillies have already rotated through multiple fifth and sixth starter candidates from their major league roster. They began the year with Taijuan Walker filling in while Zack Wheeler was sidelined, but Walker was let go after just 22.2 innings, having posted an ERA north of 9.
With Painter now out of the picture, the Phillies lack a definitive solution for the fifth spot in the rotation. Matt Gelb notes that Bryse Wilson, formerly of the Braves and White Sox, has activated an upward mobility clause in his minor league deal, which may compel Philadelphia to promote him. Over 54.1 innings with Lehigh Valley, Wilson owns a 6.29 ERA and a 2.76 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Alan Rangel is already on the 40-man roster and previously made an appearance for the Phillies earlier this year, when Kyle Backhus opened for Walker during their ten-game skid. Rangel has posted respectable but unremarkable numbers with the IronPigs, carrying a 3.74 ERA in 65.0 innings.
Another possibility is that the Phillies lean on bullpen games to bridge the gap until the trade deadline. While they recently lost Brad Keller, a high-leverage bullpen arm, to the injured list, they have cultivated considerable relief depth through minor league signings and waiver pickups.
They have enough bodies to manage the situation, even if relying on a bullpen day every fifth turn is far from ideal.
Whichever route Philadelphia chooses, it will have to proceed without Andrew Painter, who is headed to Lehigh Valley to rediscover his identity as a pitcher going forward.
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