NEW YORK -- Alan Rangel has done plenty of waiting.
He waited more than a decade into his professional career to make his MLB debut. He's waited out a rain delay in five of his eight career big league appearances. He's waited behind an opener in each of his first two outings since assuming the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation.
In other words, he's used to waiting.
“Those things, I can’t control,” Rangel said via team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “So in my mind, I can't really think too much about pitching after a rain delay. So I just try to stay ready to pitch any time.”
It didn't bother him on Monday in D.C. when he waited out both a rain delay and an opener, nor did it seem to bother him early in Saturday's 6-2 loss against the Mets at Citi Field in which he, once again, waited out both a rain delay (70 minutes) and an opener (Tim Mayza).
Rangel, who took over with one out in the second inning, cruised through 3 2/3 scoreless innings before running into trouble in a tough-luck sixth.
It started when Juan Soto dropped a ball just out of the reach of right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. for a leadoff single. Two batters later, Francisco Lindor smoked a 102.4 mph grounder that snuck under a diving Bryce Harper and went all the way to the right-field corner for a game-tying two-run triple.
“I thought it was gonna bounce up, and it just got under my glove,” said Harper, who provided all of the Phillies’ offense with a two-run homer in the third. “I was pretty upset about that play. Obviously, a play I think I should have made, but didn't happen.”
Rangel departed the game with two runners on, both of whom came around to score on a two-run single from A.J. Ewing off reliever Jonathan Bowlan against a drawn-in infield. That left Rangel with a somewhat misleading final line of four runs off four hits and two walks over four innings.
“I felt like he kind of had those guys off-balance,” interim manager Don Mattingly said of Rangel. “Even that inning, other than the Lindor ball, nothing really scorched or anything. So I thought he was good.”
The rocky finish spoiled what began as an encouraging outing in Rangel's second audition since stepping in for Andrew Painter.
“I'm very thankful to the team for the spot that they're putting me in and the challenges they're giving me with letting me handle these spots,” Rangel said. “I’m just trying to do the best that I can and just try to keep going and try to keep having success in the role.”
As much as this opportunity means to Rangel on an individual level, it's just as significant for the Phillies. After all, there isn't exactly a plethora of options to fill out the big league rotation while Painter works to find himself at Triple-A -- and nobody knows just how long that might take.
Painter is scheduled to make his first start since his demotion to Lehigh Valley on Sunday afternoon when the IronPigs host the Syracuse Mets.
"From my standpoint, he's just down there working and getting himself [right]," Mattingly said. "It's not like a rehab-type situation where you think, 'Oh, he’s gonna get one start and he's coming back.' I think it's more like, 'Hey, let's get this guy on the right track and don't put a timetable on it.'"
That's not to say the Phillies are writing off the 23-year-old Painter long term, but they're certainly not going to rush him back to the Majors. It's also not as if Mattingly is getting daily updates on Painter's progress.
"It's really important, moving forward, to the organization that he becomes what he's capable of," Mattingly said. "So I just look at it more like he's down there working, and then we'll hear periodically how it's going.”
When it comes to Painter, the Phillies have to do something Rangel knows all too well: Just wait.
In the meantime, they’re going to need Rangel -- whether as a starter or following an opener -- to step up every fifth game.
“I'd say right now we're committed to him being in there,” Mattingly said. “He's thrown the ball good both times, kept us in the game. … In general, Alan’s been good.”