Could Andrew Painter soon make his debut? (Cheryl Pursell)
As Mick Abel struggled mightily with his control in a Game 1 doubleheader start against the San Diego Padres, it was hard to escape the feeling that it might soon be "July-ish."
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has, since Day 1 of Spring Training, set the timetable on Andrew Painter's arrival in the big leagues at "July-ish," while leaving open the possibility that the No. 1 prospect could also join the Phillies in June or August.
In recent weeks, it became clear that Painter wasn't going to be up in June, and considering the fact that the 22-year-old wasn't lighting things up at Triple-A, his arrival in the bigs didn't seem certain to come in July with how well the Phillies' starting rotation was throwing the ball.
However, while Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo have all pitched like All-Stars, Abel, himself a rookie, has slipped up after an impressive start to his big league career.
Abel was shelled on June 21 against the New York Mets, giving up six hits and four runs — all of which came via the home run — in just three innings.
After a rain delay of more than two hours, Abel didn't make his scheduled start on June 27 in Atlanta. He did an extra bullpen session between last Friday and today in an attempt to stay sharp, but it didn't work.
Abel walked Manny Machado with two outs in the first inning, but escaped the inning unscathed. He wasn't as lucky in the second inning, a frame that saw him walk four batters, two of which came with the bases loaded. Machado sent Abel to the showers with a three-run double that extended San Diego's lead to 5-0:
Willing & Abel pic.twitter.com/CxUnU2RRRX
In total, Abel threw 53 pitches across 1 2/3 innings Wednesday afternoon, only 25 of which were strikes. His ERA has now spiked to 5.04. There is something to be said for Abel going 11 days between starts. Perhaps it wasn't fair to expect him to be sharp Wednesday. But he was really erratic, enough so that Rob Thomson had no choice but to pull him after less than two innings even on a day where the Phillies will play two games. The Phillies might have no choice but to give Abel a reset at Triple-A.
After what ended up being a 6-4 loss to the Padres, Thomson was asked about Abel's spot in the rotation and was non-committal.
"We haven't talked about it," Thomson said. "I haven't talked to Mick either. So I'm not sure how he's feeling. I'm sure he's disappointed in his start, but we'll talk about it."
Abel getting optioned wouldn't necessarily mean that Painter has to come up. The Phillies could try to piece things together every five days using Alan Rangel, for example, as their bulk arm. If they don't believe that Painter is ready, something like that might be the move, because while Aaron Nola continues to progress, he's nowhere close to returning. Rob Thomson said Wednesday morning that Nola will need "pretty close" to a Spring Training type build up before returning to the Phillies, meaning some time in August is probably the earliest he could return.
Mick Abel: “Sometimes trying too hard just doesn’t work in your favor, and today was one of those days.”
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/8wzvYgaR5g
As far as Painter, Thomson was asked if the Phillies still believe he won't be with them prior to the All-Star Break.
"Yes," Thomson replied.
And there's no flexibility on that?
"I don't think so," Thomson said.
Rob Thomson told @JimSalisbury215 the Phillies still don’t expect Andrew Painter to join them before the All-Star Game. pic.twitter.com/RA9H9fHJ34
Of course, there's nothing legally binding about that answer. Thomson could announce pregame tomorrow that after getting to meet with Dombrowski and the front office, the organization is going to promote Painter. Or he could wait a few days and make that announcement.
Painter is slated to start Thursday for Lehigh Valley, so that will be worth watching. If he's scratched from that start, that would probably be an indication that he's coming up. It might make more sense, though, to just have him make his scheduled start and see how he fares. Painter has a 4.24 ERA in nine starts at Triple-A, so it's not as though he's kicking the door down. If he pitches Thursday and it doesn't go well, then maybe he isn't the answer right now. But if the Phillies get a good feeling from how Painter pitches Thursday, having him make his Major League Debut next Tuesday or Wednesday in San Francisco might make sense.
After all, it is July-ish.
