The Andrew Painter experience went about as poorly as anyone could have imagined in his first taste of the big leagues, and the ripple effects are causing a few problems for the Philadelphia Phillies. Not only do Painter’s struggles open up the need for a fifth starter, they also take him out of consideration as part of a larger trade. Considering how many holes the club needs to fill this summer, their thin prospect pool is being stretched even thinner.
Despite his wildly impressive pedigree, Andrew Painter is clearly not a major league-caliber pitcher at this moment in time. The 23-year-old was shelled to the tune of a 7.06 ERA in his first 14 big league appearances, and will now attempt to get back on track in Triple-A for the foreseeable future. Painter’s absence has left a gaping hole in the Phillies’ rotation, and minor league swingman Alan Rangel was first up to try to stop the bleeding on Monday night. It didn't go fantastically; the Phils fell silently to the Nationals.
Whether it’s Rangel, Tucker Davidson, Chuck King, or some other forgettable Triple-A call-up taking over the fifth start spot, the Phillies clearly need to bring in a more experienced hurler from outside the organization. That’s not great news for a club with a bare bones farm system that also needs to be on the hunt for a quality right-handed bat and a high-leverage reliever.
Not only is Andrew Painter killing the Phillies on the mound, but they can't trade him either
This brings up the second part of the one-two punch of Andrew Painter bad news: his horrifying debut tanked his stock. The former top pitching prospect in all of baseball hasn’t looked anything like that ever since he underwent Tommy John surgery, and it’s fair to wonder if he can ever reach the tremendous expectations he was once pegged for. He still has plenty of time to rewrite his story, but the prospect that once was seen as can't-miss is now viewed as more of a lottery ticket proposition.
That makes the Phillies’ deadline dance even more difficult, as the amount of eye-catching prospects that could headline a massive deal is quickly diminishing. Justin Crawford is currently playing semi-regularly in the majors and has been less than impressive. Top-100 prospect Aidan Miller hasn’t played a game this year due to a mysterious back injury, and the Phils aren’t likely to deal him at the nadir of his value. Now Painter finds himself at a similar low point, as the once-generational talent has become damaged goods, at least for now.
Beyond those three, there aren’t any top-flight prospects in the Phillies’ system that could headline a package for a Tarik Skubal-type player. Gage Wood, Aroon Escobar and Francisco Renteria are all valuable enough to net solid players, but trading away more than one or two of them would be cutting into the bone.
Painter has put the Phillies in a pretty tough spot. They have more than a few gaps to fill on the big league roster (one more now thanks to him), and very little prospect capital to do it with. It’s not an impossible task, but it’s a much tighter needle to thread now than it was before.
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