PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies have stuck by Andrew Painter through a mostly tumultuous rookie season -- but nobody's rotation spot is a permanent guarantee.
"It’s not like you just get endless chances, right?” interim manager Don Mattingly said earlier this month. “You have to perform."
Painter's latest opportunity came during Wednesday afternoon’s 12-4 loss against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. The 23-year-old righty was tagged for six runs in just two innings -- the shortest start of his young career.
In two outings since Mattingly's comments, Painter has allowed 11 runs in just seven innings (14.14 ERA). Overall, he has a 7.06 ERA over 65 innings through the first 14 outings of his big league career.
The only Phillies pitcher with a worse ERA through his first 14 career outings (minimum 50 IP) was Ralph Head in 1923. He had a 7.32 ERA through 14 appearances on his way to finishing with a 6.66 ERA in his first -- and only -- Major League season.
Of course, the Phillies have much higher expectations for Painter. The organization and fans alike had been eagerly awaiting Painter's debut essentially from the time he was drafted 13th overall in 2021.
From there, Painter's story has been well-documented. He flashed his elite potential in the spring of 2022 only to undergo Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for all of '23 and '24. He spent the entire '25 season in the Minors, where he put up a 5.26 ERA over 26 starts.
Still, the Phillies believed Painter was ready when they put him on their 2026 Opening Day roster -- and he did nothing to suggest otherwise in his MLB debut.
Painter threw 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball while striking out eight batters in his first big league start against the Nationals on March 31. There have been a few other glimpses, too. He had seven strikeouts over five innings of one-run ball vs. the D-backs in start No. 3. He then had a three-start stretch in mid-May in which he had a 2.60 ERA over 17 1/3 innings.
But for the most part, it's been a steady dose of abbreviated outings marred by poor command, hard contact and an inability to miss bats.
That begs the question: Where do the Phillies go from here with Painter?
There aren't many viable alternatives at Triple-A, though Alan Rangel could certainly fill the role for now if the Phils decided that Painter would be best served working through his problems at Triple-A. Of course, that's what they were hoping to see last season -- and it never came to fruition.
The positive to keeping him in the Majors is that he gets to work with the big league pitching staff between starts. Plus, he can be around established big league starters like Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola -- all of whom have earned Cy Young votes at some point in their careers.
Mattingly said it best, though: At some point, Painter needs to perform.