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' eventual 10-4 loss against the Nationals after four innings with what the club called left hamstring tightness.
Painter is optimistic he avoided anything serious, but the Phillies will reevaluate him when he comes in on Thursday.
And he’s not the only one.
Outfielder Derek Hill left the game in the top of the 11th inning after crashing full speed into the center-field wall while trying to track down a deep fly ball. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes before ultimately walking off under his own power alongside team medical staff.
He’s dealing with a right shoulder contusion, but interim manager Don Mattingly said they’re “checking everything.”
“You hit a wall like that, it's not too forgiving,” Mattingly said. “Give it a chance to evaluate him overnight and see what happens and how he comes in tomorrow.”
That came just moments after Bryce Harper appeared to sustain an injury while sliding into second base on a caught stealing to end the bottom of the 10th inning.
“He said his hand just kind of got stuck when he went to slide,” said Mattingly.
Harper stayed in the game after a lengthy visit of his own with the medical staff.
The rash of injuries quickly overshadowed the game itself, which spiraled out of control starting with the Hill play in the top of the 11th that resulted in a go-ahead two-run triple for CJ Abrams. The Nats went on to score four more runs to turn it into a rout.
The Phillies used every available pitcher in their bullpen and the Nationals used every player off their bench -- and then some. With no position players remaining, the Nats called on Miles Mikolas -- Thursday’s starting pitcher -- to pinch-hit in that wild 11th inning. He dropped down a successful sacrifice bunt to notch the first RBI by an opposing pitcher against the Phillies since Sept. 23, 2021.
It was just that kind of night for the Phils.
Painter initially sustained his injury on a first-inning pitch to Nats left fielder Daylen Lile when his 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.
“Obviously, he pitched a couple more innings after that, but it just started to get tight on him,” Mattingly said. “So, obviously, we're going to be careful there and get him out of there.”
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. Hoping to build off an encouraging return last Friday in Baltimore, Painter got off to another solid start before exiting early.
“Super frustrating,” Painter said. “My job is to go and eat innings and take that off the bullpen, and the game tonight went a little longer than expected, so the bullpen had to do a little more work.”
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.
“We'll come in and see where we're at tomorrow, but I feel good about it moving forward,” Painter said. “I don't think it's going to be anything too serious.”