This hurts bad. Real bad. Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is out indefinitely with a scary injury. So, is there any viable solution for the Phils? Indeed there is. That solution is Andrew Painter.
It’s time to call the kid up whether the Phillies like it or not.
With Zack Wheeler on the IL, it may be time for the Phillies to call up Andrew Painter. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
Painter could fill the void — not the shoes — left by Wheeler, who had surgery Monday to remove a blood clot in his upper right arm.
The Phillies said Wheeler underwent a thrombolysis procedure at a Philadelphia hospital and gave no timeline for his recovery. No timeline means it’s going to be a long wait for Wheeler — probably next season.
The best rebuttal to this disastrous news is to flip it and call up Painter, a blue-chip prospect whom team officials have envisioned as Wheeler’s heir apparent in the next couple years.
Just prior to Wheeler’s injury, it looked like Painter had no chance of debuting in the majors this season. But when asked if it was time to call up the kid, Phillies manager Rob Thomson gave a brief but telling reply on Sunday. “Could be,” the manager said via The Inquirer.
Thomson added, “If we have to go to a sixth [starter], it could be Painter. It could be somebody else. We’ve just got to carry on.”
Yes, Painter has flopped so far at triple-A Lehigh Valley, with a 5.31 ERA over 17 starts. Yes, he may be close to maxing out with 81⅓ innings in his first regular season since undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2023.
But if the Phillies reach the postseason (and it looks like they should), they’ll need a secret sauce of sorts. How about a smoke-throwing pitcher that opposing MLB hitters have yet to see? See where we’re going with this? The secret sauce is Painter. And although the surface stats looks ugly, Painter’s arm is still golden, firing 100-mph bullets and knee-breaking curves, with the ability to dominate like this:
Painter’s problem this season has been his command but that issue could resolve itself in the big leagues where there’s a “book” underscoring every big-league hitter’s weakness. No such book exists in the minors.
Also, the energy at Citizens Bank Park — especially during Red October — could rev up a youngster like Painter and give him extra mph on his heater.
And although he’s pitched poorly, his most recent start on Saturday was solid: 5 innings, four hits, three runs (two earned), three walks and five strikeouts on 83 pitches (50 strikes).
There’s a perfect example of a secret sauce being used in Phillies history. Go back to September 1980 when the Phils called up a flame-throwing youngster, Marty Bystrom, who went 5-0 down the stretch and then started an NLCS game and a World Series game, both of which the Phillies won.
Granted, it’s likely a long shot that Painter turns into the reincarnate of Bystrom. But it’s worth giving Painter shot — to find out if he is, in fact, the secret sauce.
