PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies once again find themselves holding their breath on Andrew Painter -- but this time for a different reason.
The rookie right-hander appeared well on his way to turning in a second consecutive solid performance on Wednesday night until a left hamstring injury cut his outing short. Painter left the Phillies' game against the Nationals after four innings with what the club called left hamstring tightness.
He will be evaluated further.
Painter had allowed just one run off three hits and one walk while striking out four through four innings. He had retired eight of the final nine batters he faced, including all three in a nine-pitch fourth inning.
But when the fifth inning started, left-hander Tim Mayza jogged in from the bullpen to take over for Painter.
It's unclear exactly when Painter sustained the injury, though he did grimace following an awkward landing on a first-inning pitch to Nats left fielder Daylen Lile. Painter's foot appeared to stick in the ground as he spun off the mound toward first base after firing a 96 mph fastball past Lile for strike three.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto checked on Painter following that sequence, but he remained in the game to not only finish off that first frame but pitch three more.
Painter's four-seam fastball averaged 95.6 mph against the Nationals -- down from his season average of 96.6 mph.
This is just the latest setback for Painter, who was making just his second start since rejoining the rotation last Friday in Baltimore.
Though he broke camp in the Phillies' Opening Day rotation after years of hype as one of the club's premier prospects, Painter was demoted to Triple-A on June 17 after posting a 7.06 ERA through his first 14 career outings.
Painter made five starts with Lehigh Valley before Philadelphia brought him back just days before Monday's Trade Deadline. Though the club was active in the starting pitcher market, the Phillies ultimately did not land a starter at the Deadline.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski admitted that left him “a little” concerned about the organization’s starting-pitching depth, though not about the rotation overall.
"We feel, if we can make it to the postseason, our starting rotation is in really solid shape," Dombrowski said. "Other people are looking to add to their top three. In our situation, that really wasn't a necessity. So if we were going to do it and add somebody, they would have had to be significantly better, in our opinion, than Andrew."
Of course, that was all said under the premise of all five starters staying healthy. The dynamic shifts significantly if Painter -- or anyone in the rotation -- needs to miss any time.
During Painter's six weeks in the Minors, the Phillies pieced together the No. 5 spot using Alan Rangel and Brian Keller, often behind an opener.