Phillies

Seems Fair to Question Whether or Not Andrew Painter Earned his Spot in the Majors

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jun 8th, 2026 · 1:47 PM EDT

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Saw this from Stolnis the other day:

Honestly, Andrew Painter never really earned his spot in the big league rotation. He was not at all good in the minors last year. He got it based on reputation and expectation. They should send him down until he refines his pitch arsenal and figure figures out how to use his…

— John Stolnis (@JohnStolnis) June 6, 2026

“Honestly, Andrew Painter never really earned his spot in the big league rotation. He was not at all good in the minors last year. He got it based on reputation and expectation. They should send him down until he refines his pitch arsenal and figures out how to use his fastball more effectively.“

Yeah it’s interesting. Did he earn his spot? You could argue that Painter won a job in Spring Training, but won it against who? Ranger Suarez departed in free agency. Taijuan Walker was making big money before his release. Zack Wheeler was still working his way back from injury. So it’s not like there was some glut of competition and Painter had to separate himself from the pack. It was always presumed that he’d settle in with Cristopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo, and Walker. There really wasn’t a position battle or any kind of obstacle to overcome.

When you go back and look at the numbers, Painter made 22 starts in Lehigh Valley last season, amounting to 106.2 innings. He pitched 11.1 innings in four starts with Clearwater. He went 5-8 in those combined stints (26 starts) and finished with a combined 5.26 ERA, so he wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire as he recovered from the Tommy John surgery. Now you look at his numbers this year and he’s posting a 6.21 ERA and throwing a flat fastball that hitters are getting a bat on. Maybe that’s all it boils down to, is getting some movement back on the four seamer, and then he’ll be okay.

In the meantime, the Phillies don’t exactly have anybody else to turn to. If you send down Painter, who replaces him? Alan Rangel? Gage Wood has been in Reading for five minutes. There isn’t exactly a robustness in readily available starting pitching depth.

It’s curious when you think about how long we’ve been bashed over the head with the “Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller, and Justin Crawford are coming” thing. PAINTER CRAWFORD MILLER! PAINTER CRAWFORD MILLER! It was spoken so many times that it became this mythical baseball beast, like when they finally made it to the majors they’d be the next Sandy Koufax, Andruw Jones, and George Brett. Would we ever see these guys in the majors? How many development years did they need? Crawford has been just okay. Miller is dealing with a Sixers-esque back injury and Painter is getting shelled.

You would assume that these guys have spent so damn long in the minors (or at least it feels that way), that when the call ups finally came, they’d be ready. But maybe they’re not ready. Or maybe they’re not even that good? We’ll find out at some point.