Andrew Painter Continues Rise in Career-Best Outing: ‘Man, Paint was Good’
Aug 22, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (24) throws a pitch during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Andrew Painter had the best outing of his rookie season in Game 2 against the Cardinals. He pitched seven innings, gave up only one earned run, and struck out eight while walking nobody. This is the pitcher that the Phillies expected to see early on.
After going to Lehigh Valley to work on mechanics and then coming back up, he has pitched well, capped off with this last start. What was most impressive in this game was how early on he had command of his entire arsenal, proven by his 22 of 27 first-pitch strikes in the game. He settled in early, and his swing-and-miss stuff was on full display in the first inning. He established career highs with seven innings, 20 swings and misses, and his highest velocity of the year with 99.6 MPH on his 100th pitch of the game.
“Man, Paint was good [Saturday night],” Mattingly said. “Just a lot of early attack. Lots of swing and miss with the breaking ball. Power changeup. Just on the attack all night long. He located all night long. He was in good counts. You can’t ask for much better than that. That’s a pretty good view into — if he turns into something like that, then it’s a monster.”
That command showed up in flashes over his last two turns through the rotation, even when the results weren’t consistent. Against the Cardinals on Aug. 10, Painter took a no-hitter into the sixth inning at Busch Stadium before Ivan Herrera‘s double and Alec Burleson‘s two-run single ended it. He finished with two runs on two hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking three, and the Phillies held on for a 6-5 win. He gave the Phils a chance to win, which isn’t something he did before rejoining the team.
“It’s three in a row that he’s thrown the ball well since he’s come back,” Mattingly said. “So that’s obviously positive for us.”
In his previous start against the Minnesota Twins, his command wasn’t there in the first inning. Painter loaded the bases in the first inning on two singles and a walk, then hung a slider to Brooks Lee for a grand slam. He stayed in the game, working around a solo homer from Kody Clemens and finishing five innings, and the Phillies rallied from a five-run deficit to complete a series sweep.
“First inning was super tough,” Painter said following that game. “Not commanding the ball, not executing pitches. Put the team in a really tough spot going down 4-0 in the first inning.”
This start looked nothing like that first inning in Minnesota. Painter missed bats with his slider and cutter from the opening frame and did not put a single hitter on base via walk over seven innings, the longest outing of his career. Five starts since coming back to the majors and a pattern is starting to emerge: fewer blowup innings, deeper outings, and a rookie who looks like the pitcher the Phillies drafted 13th overall in 2021 rather than the one who got sent down in June.
“You’re always up for a challenge, but you don’t want to look too much into outside stuff,” Painter said. “Just control what you can control and do the day-in and day-out stuff. Put the work in. Put your head down and grind. Learn from the mistakes and the failure. That’s the biggest part.”
The Phillies need this version of Painter through September if the Phils have any chance of making noise in October. With the Phillies chasing Atlanta in the NL East, there is little room for a fifth starter who can’t get through five innings. Painter has now done that in three straight outings, and his ERA is 3.95 since coming back, most of which is from his bad first inning in Minnesota.
Painter and the Phillies have five weeks left to find out if this stretch is what we can expect going forward. He has strung together three straight starts that would have been unthinkable back in May, and the pitcher now taking the mound every fifth day looks like the guy everyone expected to see coming out of Spring Training. If he keeps missing bats and pushing into the sixth and seventh, the bottom of the rotation question that has hung over this team stops being a question, right when the Phillies need it answered.
“He’s starting to show you some windows of what he can be,” Mattingly said.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible; we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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