One Stat Shows How Difficult Andrew Painter Made It for Phillies To Win

The Philadelphia Phillies were in a tough spot during Andrew Painter starts.

May 13, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (24) pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the first inning at Fenway Park. | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Andrew Painter entered the 2026 MLB regular season with a good amount of expectations.

Viewed as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, he was expected to hit the ground running in the Big Leagues. Unfortunately, that is not what occurred, and the team had to make the difficult decision to send him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Phillies gave him as many chances as possible, but another brutal outing against the Miami Marlins, in which he surrendered six earned runs in two innings, was the final straw. While a difficult decision to make, it was certainly the right one.

Painter had a 1-8 record with a 7.06 ERA, 63 ERA+, 5.51 FIP and 1.662 WHIP in 65 innings with 53 strikeouts and 24 walks. He actually did a great job limiting hard contact, with an average exit velocity of 86.3 mph and a hard-hit rate of 35.2%, both being better than the league average.

Phillies run differential in Andrew Painter games was abysmal

Jun 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter (24) throws a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Alas, opponents were racking up hits and home runs against him at an alarming rate. And one statistic encapsulates just how difficult he was making it for Philadelphia to be competitive and win games he was on the mound for.

As shared by Drew Balis on X, before the team’s game against the New York Mets on June 18, their overall run differential was -18. However, if you remove the run differential from the games Painter appeared in, the team is +27.

That 45-run differential is massive. Whenever he was taking the mound, it was taking a major toll on the bullpen and crushing the team’s ability to win games. In his 14 appearances, the Phillies were 3-11, with May 18 being the last time a victory was recorded in a game in which he pitched.

For whatever reason, Painter was incapable of stopping the bleeding during an outing. He was charged with at least four earned runs in each of his last four outings with the team before being demoted.

Phillies stat I find interesting:

The team's run differential on the season is -18

Remove the games Andrew Painter pitched in, and it would improve to +27

Really shows the damage his starts — especially recent ones — were doing on the bullpen, chance to win games, etc

— Drew Balis (@drewBbalis) June 18, 2026

In seven out of his 14 appearances, he was charged with at least four earned runs, and he completed at least six innings only twice.

There are specific things that Painter will have to work on in the minor leagues to get called back up. He has to figure something out with a fastball because his four-seamer isn’t working, whether it is using more splitters or cutters.

Without a fastball to work off of, opponents have been tagging him, especially in his most recent outings. Lefties and righties were hitting him equally as well, recording OPS numbers of .905 and .895, respectively.

Sign up for our free newsletter to receive the latest news and updates!